DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

Finally: Part 1

In the distance, the orange glow of the street lamps announced to Harry that his home was not far off, although he was still far enough away that he could not yet make out the green light of the beacon charm. Off to the East, the sky was showing the first signs of the dawn, almost imperceptibly turning from black to a dark blue that grew paler and paler as it got closer to the horizon. He accelerated, flying faster towards the mass of street lamps, needing to get home before the dawn's early light would make him visible.

As the cold air stung against his face, Harry realized that there was nothing else really for him to think about. He had run through everything in his mind so much over the past two months that everything was now old to him. Besides, no matter which way he looked at it the answer always ended up being the same.

After the Minister's Gala they had tried not to go to bed together again, but they were just kidding themselves to think that there was even the remotest of chances that they would succeed. They both enjoyed being that close to each other far too much to just walk away from that sort of pleasure. Barely a month later, Harry found himself waking up one morning with Hermione's arm around his bare chest and her mass of hair draped across his shoulder. So, Hermione's back-up plan was put into effect in the hopes that they could separate their friendship from that other, much more intimate thing they liked doing together. To keep things separated they came up with a few rules. For starters, they began keeping a certain amount of physical distance from one another, especially when they were around other people. There was a sort of invisible barrier placed between them which neither of them crossed unless they were having one of their special nights together. Except for birthdays and Christmas, there would be no gifts or flowers or any other tokens that might be construed as romantic. Finally, for the day or two that followed one of their nights of bedroom fun they would have no contact with one another. This was meant to be a sort of cooling off period that would help get rid of any odd feelings they might have afterwards. They also never went to bed together on work nights, but this had more to do with Hermione's desire to not be up late into the night before going to work.

Even with all of the rules, their attempts to separate a sexual relationship from their regular friendship had failed. Through all of his recent reflection, Harry had come to realize that it was always destined to fail because he had already begun to fall in love with her when they started down that path. The signs had all been there. The time he spent with her almost doubled, and when he was not with her Harry found that many of his thoughts were in anticipation of the next time they would see each other. He had also stopped looking at other women, especially the attractive blonde that worked in the Wizard Resources Office, who, with her nice smile, soft curly hair, and exceptionally long legs, had always been a rather pleasant sight for Harry's eyes. Harry knew that he had not actually missed any of these signs but, rather, he chose to ignore them completely. He was simply not ready to accept the notion that he had begun to fall in love with another woman, especially one he had once thought of more as a sister and with whom his best friend had been in love with. And so Harry chose to remain content with how things were and pretend that nothing was different.

For a long while he and Hermione only went to bed together about once every month or so. It seemed the right amount of time in between. Over time, however, their infrequent trysts became an increasingly less so; gradually progressing to once every other week with an occasional two weeks in a row thrown in for good measure. Harry kept telling himself that they were still just really good friends. They still obeyed all of their other rules and maintained their discretion. There was no reason to think that anything was different.

Then one night, last spring, something simple and ordinary happened that changed everything. They slept together. They climbed into bed together and fell asleep curled up next to one another. Nothing less and nothing more.

Both of them had been particularly busy at work for the two weeks prior to this night, often staying long after the Ministry's closing hours. They had hardly been able to see each other, let alone spend any quality time together. Harry had even been forced to skip one of their regular Wednesday lunches together because his duties had taken him out of town for three days. So, when this particular Saturday arrived, and both had the evening free, they made sure to spend that time together, no matter how exhausted they both were. They ended up eating take-away and watching a rented movie on Harry's new television set. Harry was so tired that he began nodding off half-way through the film, and Hermione was having her own difficulties staying awake. Finally, she suggested that it might be a good idea if they just called it a night and went to bed; a suggestion Harry was hardly about to argue with.

Spending the night together without having a little hanky panky wasn't really an odd thing for the pair, nor was it something that broke any of their rules. After they began their new "arrangement" there had been several nights when the time grew late and Hermione stayed over, but she always slept in his guest bedroom. On this night, however, Hermione did not go to the guest room. She followed Harry to his. The next thing he knew, she was walking out of his bathroom wearing nothing but her knickers and one of his old t-shirts. If he had not been so tired, Harry would have been quite aroused by the sight of her. As it was, he thought little of it and even less when she had crawled into bed, cuddled up to him, and fell asleep with her head resting on his arm. It was just something that felt comfortable, relaxing, and above all completely correct.

It seemed like an innocuous thing at the time. They had slept in the same bed before, but in those times they had just been in the same bed, hoping just to find some measure of comfort by the other's presence. This time was different. This time they had been together under the bed sheets, their bodies molding together into one shape, and drawing warmth from each other. Friends did not go to bed together in such a way. Couples went to bed together in this way. People who loved one another went to bed together in such a way. In one fell swoop Harry Potter and Hermione Granger went from being friends to being one of those couples who were in love.

Almost overnight, all of their rules seemed to be cast out of the window. That invisible barrier all but disappeared; the use of their cooling off period went away completely; and that rule about not going to bed together on work nights seemed as though it had never been a rule at all and Hermione started staying over more and more often, sometimes an entire week at a time. Harry liked what was happening, enjoyed seeing her in the morning, and looked forward to just spending time with her almost every night of the week.

Still, he kept telling himself that that this was just a bit of fun; that it wasn't serious. Harry had come to realize how deluded he was back then, but he had a good reason for looking at everything in this way. He still saw Hermione as Ron's girl. The two of them had wanted to be together since the forth year of school, even if neither of them knew it at the time. They had come so close to having everything that they wanted only to have it ripped away in an instant. Here Harry was, spending nearly every night with his best friend's girl and making love to her with good frequency, things he would never have considered doing if Ron were alive right now. What gave Harry the right to move in on Ron's girl?

He certainly would not be doing this if Ginny was still living either. She'd had a crush on him for so long before he noticed her, and just when Harry had given her his heart she, he took it back hoping to protect her and keep her safe. In an equally short and exceedingly painful instant, he failed Ginny. He could not protect her, and she too was ripped away from his life. How could he just give his heart to someone else after all of that?

No. It was easier pretending that this was all a bit of fun…pretending that he and Hermione were not really becoming a serious couple…it was easier than feeling that gut-wrenching guilt Harry would have felt if he had just acknowledged the truth. Yes, it was easier…but it certainly wasn't right.

That guilt would always be there. Of this, Harry was certain. Even now, as he angled his broom towards the now visible glow of his beacon, he could still feel it, although with his decision made it was, somehow, no longer quite so strong. He did not feel nearly as much now as he had even just a week ago. In time, the feeling would probably be diminished even further, perhaps, to an occasional dull nagging sort of thing. Harry could live with that.

Steadily, Harry got closer to his home, slowly descending along the way. As much as the harsh cold was biting at his face, he kept a tight focus on landing safely. His back garden wasn't exactly large. Add in the eight foot tall privacy fence surrounding the garden on all sides, the tree at the rear of the garden, his two story house at the other end, raging cold, and sleep deprivation, this all made for a tricky landing, one that required his concentration in order to avoid a messy crash. When he was finally within a hundred yards or so of the back garden, Harry dove towards the glowing birdbath, focusing on it as his guide. His speed increased and was rather high when he crossed over the top of the fence just to the right of the tree at the end of the garden. As came directly over the birdbath, Harry pulled into a sudden left turn taking him over the opposite side of the fence. The hard turn bled off most of his excess speed, slowing Harry down to a gentle coast. He took a wide, gentle curve, circling around the large tree again, slowing him down even further so that when he was again over his garden, he was able to pull up to complete stop, hovering in place. Then Harry just slowly floated to the ground, touching down softly in grass next to the glowing birdbath.

It was then that he noticed the light coming out through the kitchen window. Between the landing and the glow of the beacon charm, Harry had not really noticed that the light was on at all. He thought little of this because he usually left the kitchen lights on when he went out flying. It was what he saw through the window that grabbed Harry's attention. Hermione was awake, earlier than he had hoped. She was standing at one of the counters, wearing his heavy, terrycloth bath robe, and her hair was still damp from her usual morning shower. He watched her as she held a steaming mug of hot coffee in her hand, blowing into it to cool it off while flipping through the pages of the morning paper.

Harry's heart sank as he watched her through the window, realizing that his flight had not had its desired effect. To top it all off, Hermione did not like it when he went flying. He was breaking the rules by riding his broom in a Muggle neighborhood, and she was usually quite sullen with him for a few hours after each one of his flights. How could he tell her that he loved her when she was mad at him?

Out of frustration, he began silently cursing Dumbledore and his seemingly prescient ability to always seem to know things that he not possibly. If the old headmaster's portrait had not said anything to him, Harry would not now be tired and cold and aggravated. He would be asleep in his bed, content and blissfully unaware of everything. In time, he would have come to realize how he felt about Hermione all on his own. Dumbledore had not needed to confront him with the truth.

And how long would that have been? Harry's conscience suddenly argued back. How long would it have taken for you to discover the truth on your own? Six months? A year? Longer? Would Hermione have been willing to wait for you to figure all of this out by yourself?

If Dumbledore had not given him such swift kick towards reality, Harry might have missed out on his one remaining chance for a truly happy life. Most certainly, if Hermione gave up on him and left him, anything meaningful they had ever had together and ever would have would be gone forever. Would they have ever been able to acknowledge each other in passing at the Ministry? or Would they just ignore each other day after day, month after month knowing that everything was lost? Yes, sooner was definitely better than later. Once again, Dumbledore was right.

That swift kick towards reality had come two months ago, just after the start of school at Hogwarts. His journey to his former school was not actually Harry's idea. The school had introduced a new program to help fifth, sixth, and seventh year students choose which careers they might be interested in pursuing once they were finished with school. The various magical employers would each have the opportunity to send a representative to the school to talk about what it was like working in their particular fields. It was a certainly better than just giving the students pamphlets and brochures to look over. Two days were set aside for the seminars, as they were called, and the students would attend up to four of them each day. As the largest employer of witches and wizards in all of Britain, the Ministry sent someone from almost every department, along with peoplefrom the Daily Prophet, several different broom makers and dozen other businesses.

Harry was given the honor of speaking on behalf of the Auror Department. The rebuilding process for the Auror Department was long and slow. A good core of Aurors had been put in place with the same abbreviated training schedule Harry had gone through. It was enough that the Department was able to revert back to its three year training requirement. The difficulty was that the Auror Department only accepted the best and the brightest for training, and coaxing the best and the brightest away from potentially lucrative careers to go through three years of training to become an Auror making Civil Service wages (which weren't bad, just not lucrative) was a difficult prospect. The hope was that Harry's celebrity would help with recruiting.

It was not a job that Harry entirely relished. He still didn't like being used in this way because he was famous and only begrudgingly accepted the task because it was something that would help the Department. Hermione, on the other hand, was quite keen on representing her department. Like Harry, she had been asked was to speak for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures because of the fame she had achieved by helping Harry defeat Voldemort. Unlike Harry, Hermione was not so averse to using her celebrity to help increase interest in working with her department. She spent weeks preparing her presentation, making several visual aids, using up a couple dozen note cards with everything she wanted to say, and used Harry to ask her a varying array of practice questions that she thought the students might ask her. When the day of her presentation came, she was more than ready.

Hermione gave her seminar on Thursday, the first of the two days. Harry would be giving his on the following day, which he actually preferred. He was able to get a better idea of what to expect from Hermione as they talked about her experience over dinner that evening. "When we got to the Q&A, they started asking a lot of questions about you, actually," she told him.

"Really?" Harry asked back.

"Yes," Hermione answered. "It was quite annoying actually. Professor McGonagall finally had to step in to keep them in line."

Harry was really not all that surprised by this little development. During one of their many practice question sessions, images of giggling school girls standing up and asking ridiculous questions about him, who he was dating and the like, popped into his head. It wasn't ego that brought this idea to his mind; rather that he was just being pragmatic. He remembered how gossip not only about what was going on in the school, but also things like the Quidditch star who was dating the singer. All of this talk ran rampant amongst his fellow classmates, particularly the girl, when he was a student, and he doubted that things had changed all that much since that time. Harry had the notion of throwing some of those kinds of questions in with the practice questions, but he decided not to. Hermione would not appreciate him breaking up her carefully organized practice sessions with questions she would never think the students would ask her. She was the kind of person who would honestly believe that the students were attending her seminar because they were only interested in what it was like to work in her department. They would never come to her presentation with anything else on their minds.

"What did they ask?" Harry questioned further.

"Oh, nothing too bad," she said, sort of smiling. "I'm sure it's nothing you won't be able to handle yourself." Harry smiled back, understanding her meaning. She knew that he was hoping to gain some sort of knowledge of the sorts of questions they might ask him, but she wasn't about to give him any sort of a heads up. If she had to put up with it without any foreknowledge, then he was going to have to also.

On Friday morning, Harry left early, going to the Ministry first. He wasn't expected to come into the office that day, but since his presentation wasn't until one in the afternoon, there was no point in spending the entire day at the school. He arrived at the Auror Office, checked over the Threat Boards and the Overnight Case boxes first, hoping that something important might pop up that could get him out of doing his presentation. As nothing new had come in since he had left work the previous day, there was no such luck. So he settled down at his desk to finish some paperwork. He worked steadily, finishing his work in just under an hour. Then, he spent some time working on his presentation. Humphries had given him a pre-written blurb about the Department, things that he wanted Harry to say. Harry looked over the words, rewriting so that they sounded more like something he would say and jotting down a few more notes of his own. He was trying to stall for as long as possible, still hoping that some important case or some new tip on Walden MacNair's whereabouts would come in that would require his immediate attention. Alas, again his luck had failed him.

Around eleven that morning he went down to the Staff Canteen for a quick bite, then returned to his desk to collect what notes he had and accepted the knowledge that he was not going to get out of this thing at Hogwarts. He went to the Portkey Authority Office and procured a portkey for the trip to Hogsmeade. A few minutes later he was standing in Hogsmeade, just outside of the Hogshead. Then he started the familiar journey up to Hogwarts.

The school had provided its carriages that carried the students up to the school at the start of term. A feeling of apprehension began building in Harry as his carriage got closer and closer to the school. He had not set foot into the school since he had left it the morning after the Battle, coming only as close as having tea in Hagrid's hut. He was unsure of what he might feel once he was inside of the castle, but Harry fought the feeling back with a surge of determination to see the thing through.

The carriage arrived at one of the side entrances to the school. Harry climbed down and entered the castle. A small desk, manned by Mr. Filch, had been set up to check the business representatives in. Filch looked at Harry with same eye of suspicion he had always given to every student. Harry realized that Filch had probably used this expression so many times over the years that it had simply become his normal, every day expression.

After checking in, Harry looked around at all the other representatives. He knew some of them from the Ministry, but most of the others he did not know. All of them seemed to have a variety of different items, posters, brochures, and handouts, making Harry feel as though he wasn't nearly as prepared as he should have been. He felt better, though, when he saw that each of them had the same look of disappointment upon seeing him there. This whole seminar thing was really a competition of sorts, to see which employers could attract the best future employees. It would be hard for most of them to compete when someone as famous as Harry Potter was their competition.

With the students still at lunch and several minutes to spare before he had to give his presentation, Harry decided to take a look around the school. Hogwarts had changed very little since he had last been there. The stair cases still liked to move about on their own, Mrs. Norris still roamed the halls looking for misbehaving students, and Peeves was still causing general mayhem whenever and wherever possible. Except for a few pock-marked stone walls that had been hit by errant spells, the only reminder that the Death Eater War had ended at Hogwarts was the memorial that had been erected just outside the entrance to Great Hall. The memorial was basically a short, squat obelisk, roughly three feet tall and three feet wide. It was made of smooth and polished granite with sides that were tapered just slightly as they rose towards the top. was the memorial to those who had died defending the castle, and its placement near the Great Hall was such that everyone would have to pass by it each and every day and be reminded what had happened at the castle. On one of the stone structure's four sides, the words Dedicated to the loving memory of those who perished defending this castle at the Battle of Hogwarts. You will never be forgotten, were etched in black colored letters. At the base of the obelisk was a large bronze plaque engraved on which were the very names of those who were killed in the Battle, including two house elves and a centaur. Harry spent several moments looking over the names, taking in each of them carefully. He found Colin Creevy's name, and then "Professor Remus Lupin" and just below that was "Dora Lupin". He smiled thinking that Tonks would have been glad that they had not used her full name. Near the end of the list were the two names that mattered most: Ginny's and Ron's.

Harry stayed there for a while just looking at their names, feeling so many things that he couldn't even begin to figure out what they all were. In a way, he was glad that he had come here. There was no reason for him to have been scared about being in this place…except for the fact that he had to stand up in front of at least thirty students and talk about what he did for a living. He found that prospect suddenly more terrifying.

And before he knew it, it was time for his seminar. It was held, appropriately, in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Professor McGonagall and Hagrid were both in attendance; McGonagall to step in and keep the students, namely the giggling schoolgirls, from asking inappropriate questions, and Hagrid just to lend his moral support. Somehow, it made things easier having Hagrid's smiling face in the audience.

All in all, Harry thought his presentation went pretty well. The student's listened intently to everything he had to say. Several of them asked some very good questions about working in the Auror Department. The threat of detention and a loss of house points was enough to keep most of the giddy schoolgirls at bay, although one did risk it to find out if he was dating anyone. Other than that, the only remotely off-topic questions had to do with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, which Harry had also anticipated. He answered them all, except when a student asked about Horcruxes. Harry dodged this one by just calling them "artifacts of great importance to Lord Voldemort."

After the seminar, Harry autographed a few of his Chocolate Frog Cards for some of the students, and then joined Hagrid for a cup of tea. They talked for a while about different things, how much Hagrid missed having Harry over for tea and how different everything was without his three favorite students around. Just as Harry was about to leave Hagrid's there was a knock at the door. To both of their surprise, it was Professor McGonagall. She had wanted to catch Harry before he left, to thank him for coming out this afternoon, and to ask him if he wouldn't mind coming up to her office. "Professor Dumbledore, or rather his portrait, wanted to have a word with you. I believe he is curious to see how you are doing."

Harry agreed to the meeting. He said goodbye to Hagrid, agreeing to visit him again soon, and then followed McGonagall up to her office. Like most of the school, the Headmistress's Office had also changed very little. There were few of Professor McGonagall's touches here and there, but everything else was still the same. All of Professor Dumbledore's old trinkets and bobbles were still strewn about the office, possibly because McGonagall couldn't bear to get rid of them.

Harry stood back while he watched McGonagall walk behind her desk and face Dumbledore's portrait. Like all of the other portraits in the room Dumbledore looked like he was asleep. "Albus?" Professor McGonagall said softly, but the image of Professor Dumbledore did not stir from his slumber. "ALBUS!" she screeched, and Dumbledore jumped slightly, along with most of the other portraits in the office.

"Ahh Minerva. I must apologize for dozing. I see you've brought Harry. How wonderful."

"Well, I'll leave the two of you to your discussion," McGonagall said before quietly giving up her office.

"Thank you Minerva," Dumbledore said before she left.

"Yes, thank you Professor," Harry also said, knowing that there were not many people in the world that Professor McGonagall would give up her office for.

"Now, Harry, I wish to thank you for consenting to see me," the portrait said.

"Of course, Professor. How could I refuse," Harry replied.

"Harry, you give me far more importance than what I deserve, but thank you, nonetheless." Dumbledore smiled, his eyes still twinkled, even as a portrait. "It has been a long time since you and I last saw one another, and I hoped that we might be able to take a few minutes to catch up."

"Certainly, Professor."

"Professor McGonagall has been kind enough to keep me up to date on everything by graciously reading to me all of your press clippings. However, there is only so much one can glean from a newspaper, and in your case, Harry, that is especially true. You have done a rather good job of keep yourself out of the limelight."

"I do like my privacy."

"That you do, Harry. That you do, as does Ms. Granger I gather. How is she fairing, if I may ask? I am afraid in all of the commotion and celebration after the Battle I neglected to inquire about her feelings. I have always thought that there was something more to her relationship with Ronald Weasley than met the eye."

"Er…yes. They…er…sort of had feelings for one another," Harry said with a small surge of guilt.

"Romantic feelings?"

"Yes, you could say that."

"I thought as much. That is quite a shame. There were so many who lost so much with that war. However, it seems more painful when we lose old friends and new loves."

"Yes it is more difficult," Harry had to agree.

"However, it seems that you and Ms. Granger are getting past all that you have lost."

"How do you mean, sir?"

"I mean with how intimate the two of you have become with one another."

Harry was stunned for a moment. Then he realized that Dumbledore had to be guessing. They had been too careful for anyone to know, let alone a portrait. "What makes you think Hermione and I are involved, Professor?" Harry finally asked, trying to play it off as Dumbledore making a wild guess.

"Harry, I have suspected for some time that you and Ms. Granger would, at some point, take your friendship to a far more intimate level. When I learned that the two of you spend a considerable amount of time with one another, to the point that the two of you spend more time with each other than any one else, it seemed as though my theory is proving to be true. Of course, my assumptions might be incorrect. Ms. Granger is, after all, your oldest and closest friend, and the time you spend with her could be nothing more than this friendship maintaining itself. However, as she also frequently stays overnight with you, I tend to believe that your relationship has gone far beyond just being friends."

If Harry's jaw could have hit the floor, it would have. There was no possible way that he could have heard about this from a newspaper. If he and Hermione had ever been seen together, even in the most remotely compromising way, word would have gotten out. As it was, they had not even had a close call. There was something else going on here, and when he thought he had the answer, Harry asked, "You've spoken to Hermione, haven't you?"

"Harry, I did not need to speak with Ms. Granger to already have my suspicions."

"Then how did you know that I was involved with her?"

"From you, Harry, just this moment, when confirmed my suspicions."

"You tricked me," Harry said, partially laughing at himself for running straight in to Dumbledore's trap.

"Yes, Harry. I must apologize for my subterfuge. However, I feared that if I had asked you directly you would have been less than honest with me."

"You're probably right about that."

"Am I correct in assuming that Molly Weasley has most to do with why you feel it necessary to hide your relationship with Ms. Granger?"

"Yes. It's mostly her. Ginny was her only daughter, and Molly's been the closest thing to a mother that I've ever known. If you could have seen her face when I told her about Ginny and I…"

"I imagine she had thoughts of the things that should have been but will never be," Dumbledore said, finishing Harry's thought. Harry looked up at the old Headmaster's portrait knowing what Dumbledore would say next. "Harry, you underestimate Molly. She is a very strong person; much stronger than you give her credit for. Do you not think that she would want you to be happy?"

"Well…yes, I guess she would. But something like this? I don't know if I can spring this on her…or anyone else."

"I understand your reasons Harry, but if I may offer to you a word of caution regarding your secrecy. You and Ms. Granger will not be able to hide your relationship forever. No matter how careful you both are, no matter how many precautions you take, at some point in the future someone will discover the truth about your relationship. Would it not be best if the Weasley family were to learn the truth from you rather than from an article published in the Daily Prophet?

"I'm hoping it won't ever come to that. This thing between Hermione and me…well it's just not going to last forever."

"Why ever not?" Dumbledore asked sounding almost surprised.

"Because…we're just friends. I mean I love her, but only as a friend. Right now, what we're doing is all just a bit of fun. Eventually, we'll find other people, and whatever it is that is going on between us will just forgotten."

"You do not really believe that, do you Harry?"

"Yes, I really do."

"I see. Then it seems that I was mistaken, but I feel that I must ask you one other thing, Harry."

"Of course," Harry agreed hoping that this topic was of discussion would soon be coming to an end.

"May I ask what it was that attracted you to Ms. Weasley?"

Harry was surprised by the question. He had expected it to be something related to Hermione. As he began to think about those reasons, Harry found it difficult to put it into words. No one had ever asked him why he had fallen in love with Ginny. It was something that just happened; something beyond his control. As he thought about it, he began to realize that there were so many reasons why he had loved her…why he still loved her. Finally, he just answered, "She was beautiful, kind, caring, very intelligent, funny, and she just made me happy."

"Would it then be fair to say that Ms. Chang also possessed many of those same qualities?"

"Yes, I suppose she did," Harry answered, still unsure of the point that Dumbledore was trying to make.

"And curiously, your relationship with her ended rather miserably. Why do you think that happened, Harry?"

Harry thought about this for a moment. The answer was simple really. "It was because she could really never know what I'd been through with Voldemort."

"You could have explained it to her."

"Yes, but even if I had…even with that article Rita Skeeter published, Cho was never going to be able to fully to understand what I'd been through."

"Of course she could not. Do you know why, Harry?"

"Because she'd never faced Voldemort."

"Preceisely. She had never faced Lord Voldemort, let alone survived an encounter with him. How could she possibly ever truly understand that part of you?"

"But Ginny could. In my second year of school when she got hold of Tom Riddle's diary." Harry said, suddenly understanding what Dumbledore was driving at.

"Yes, Harry. Of all the women in the world, at least those relatively close to your own age, Ginny Weasley was the only one who had ever survived an encounter with Lord Voldemort. Although you have not consciously realized this, on some level you understood that in this regard she alone was your equal, the one who could understand you in a way that no other young woman possibly could have."

"So, you're saying I fell in love with Ginny because she was my equal?"

"No, Harry, certainly not. You fell in love with Ms. Weasley for each and every one of the reasons you have just given me. On its own, the fact that she was your equal would never have been enough for you to fall in love with her. You still needed to have feelings for her in order for that to happen. At the same time, without that equality I do not believe that you would have ever looked at her in a romantic way. You see, Harry, as human beings, the relationships we choose to have with other people, whether they be life-long friendships or something more intimate, always depend on some sort of common bond. Ronald Weasley would never have become your best friend had it not been for your experience with him on that first journey to Hogwarts, and certainly, had it not been for that troll, you would never have become close friends with Ms. Granger."

"So, when you told Arthur that my becoming involved with Ginny was inevitable, you knew it was inevitable because of this bond?"

"Yes, Harry. Perhaps the word 'inevitable' was a bit too strong, but at the time, you and Ms. Weasley had been dating for the better part of a month. It seemed appropriate for the moment. And now, this common bond; this equality is something you now share with Ms. Granger."

"Towards the end of the Battle, when she thought I was dead, Hermione charged at Voldemort," Harry said finally putting all of the pieces together.

"Precisely. She put herself directly into harm's way, and I am certain that Voldemort had every intention of killing her right then and there. Fortunately, he did not. But there is more to it than just this one event. You and Ms. Granger have been friends for a very long time. This friendship had already given the two of you a certain measure of affection for one another. It may not have been romantic, but you did care about her. You must also consider that you and Ms. Granger have shared a very unusual set of experiences together. You were both fugitives, on the run and searching for Voldemort's horcruxes, and facing the same dangers together. She alone was the one who remained at your side through every moment of that experience. I believe that this has only strengthened the fondness you share for Hermione."

"But Professor, I'm not in love with Hermione."

"I see," Dumbledore said sounding like he had expected Harry to say this. "I would never presume to suggest that I know what you are feeling, Harry. I cannot possibly know that."

"But sir, I would know if I was in love with her," Harry said, almost angrily. "How could I not know something like that?"

"I can think of two reasons which might keep you from seeing your true feelings, and I think you already know what they are."

Harry did not wish to hear anymore of what Dumbledore had to say on this subject. How dare Dumbledore suggest that he was in love with Hermione! It was even worse that Dumbledore had tried to use Ginny and Ron as an argument against what Harry already knew was the truth. "That's enough of this!" Harry finally said, his facing turning red with anger. "I have better things to do than to sit here and be lectured by a portrait about my own love life."

"Yes, Harry, of course you do," Dumbledore replied back, still with a twinkle in his eye and not sounding the slightest bit hurt by what Harry had just said, which only infuriated Harry even further. "But if I might make one more request before you dramatically storm out of Professor McGonagall's office?"

"Yeah, fine. What is it?"

"I ask that you consider what I have said to you Harry, and to really think about your relationship with Ms. Granger. Examine it carefully and think about how you feel when you are with her."

"Fine. I'll do that," Harry replied with absolutely no intention of doing so. He stormed out of McGonagall's office quite determined to prove Dumbledore wrong.

When he arrived at home that night, he found that Hermione left a note telling him that she would be working late and would just be staying over at her own flat. It was a good thing that Hermione wasn't there because it gave Harry an idea to show how wrong Dumbledore really was. For the next week, he avoided Hermione as much as possible trying to survive without spending time with her. He worked late at work or went out with his co-workers for an after work pint or two at the Leaky Cauldron, and did not even call her on the telephone. For their Wednesday lunch, Harry filled out paperwork, not saying as much as two words to her the entire time. Hermione just ate silently across the table from him, not seeming the least bit disturbed by his cold behavior.

Harry's life for that entire week was absolutely horrible. The cold hard truth was that he missed Hermione. Without her around he wasn't eating as well, and he certainly wasn't sleeping as well, often waking up to the very uncomfortable sensation of not having her cuddled up next to him. When he did sleep, that dream flooded his mind, over and over again, somehow more vivid and shocking than it had ever been before. It was then that he began to understand its importance; that it had something to do with his relationship to Hermione. What his mind was trying to tell him, Harry could not be sure. What he was sure about was that it subsided when he allowed Hermione back into his life.

So, Harry gave in and began to really consider that Dumbledore's portrait might have been right after all. It was still a tough road that Harry had to traverse. It was not an easy thing that he had to overcome. For the next several weeks, Harry slowly began to come to grips with what was going on in his mind. Some days were good. He'd just simply see Hermione and have this warm happy feeling which really made him believe that he had indeed fallen in love with her. Then the bad days would come. These were marked by shame, guilt, and the feeling that he had ripped Ron and Ginny's hearts right from the chests. He would again be distant with Hermione, but Harry did not avoid her as he did before.

Slowly but surely the good days started outnumbering the bad ones, and Harry began to see Hermione differently. He began to start seeing all of those things he really loved about her: the way she panicked over forgetting the littlest detail; her smile, the way her hair smelled, and even the way she never gave up on learning how to cook even though she was still bad at it. These were just a few of the things, of course.

And now as he stood outside of his house, just watching her, Harry had accepted it all. Somewhere, Harry liked to think that Ron and Ginny were looking down at him, happy that he was finally moving on…even if it was with Hermione.

With a deep breath, Harry made his way to the back door and went inside his house. Ready or not it was time to face the music.

He opened the door and closed it, trying not to be too loud, hoping that Hermione would not notice him coming in. That idea lasted all of a second when she spoke loudly, "Harry, is that you?"

Surprisingly, Hermione did not sound very angry at all. "Yeah, it's me," Harry called back after a second or two. He perched his broom in the corner next to the door, and began removing the scarf as he slowly made his way towards the kitchen.

He turned the corner to find Hermione ladling hot cocoa out of a sauce pan on the stove and into a mug. She picked up the mug and stepped towards him. Then she gave him a quick kiss, and said, "Good morning. Did you have a good flight?"

Harry was slightly taken aback. She actually sounded cheerful, and she had certainly never asked him if he had "had a good flight" before. "Er…no, not really. It's really cold outside," he finally answered.

"Maybe now you'll listen to me about flying your broom," she answered back in a "see-I-told-you-so" sort of smirk on her face. Harry braced himself for another onslaught of all the reasons why he should not go out on his broom. Again to his surprise, she stopped right there, saying nothing more about it. "Here…" she said handing him the mug of cup, soothing liquid. "This will warm you up." Hermione stepped away towards the stove again, turning off the flame and removing the sauce pan to an unused burner. "How about some breakfast? Eggs and bacon?" she asked, still sounding quite cheerful.

Harry looked down at his cup of steaming cocoa and back to Hermione, who was now fishing a large mixing bowl from one of the cupboards. Something very odd was going on here. He was missing something entirely. Finally, out of desperation, Harry asked aloud, "Who are you and what have you done with Hermione?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Hermione said back, seemingly unphased by question.

"Normally, you'd be very mad at me and tell me every single reason why I shouldn't be going out on my broom."

"Yes. Well, obviously being angry with you was not going to stop you from flying. So, I've decided that there's no use in being angry about it. Besides, I was never angry with you because you were breaking the rules…well, maybe just a little…but that wasn't the main reason."

"Okay. So, what made you angry with me?"

"Don't you know, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Not really," Harry replied wondering if there was something he should know.

"I knew you went flying because something was on your mind, and you needed time to yourself to think it over."

"But why would that bother you?"

"Because when we were in school, when you were bothered by something you would tell Ron and me about it. Even if we didn't believe you or offered much in the way support, you still talked to us…most of the time. For the past couple of years you've stopped confiding in me about what was troubling you. Then you bought that broom and started flying. How do you think it made me feel that you would rather go out on your broom than talk to me?"

"I'm sorry Hermione," Harry said, suddenly feeling quite bad at not realizing what his little constitutionals had really been doing to her. "It's not that I didn't want to talk to you…"

"I know," she said quickly, cutting him off. "Now I understand that with your job there are certain things you just can't talk to me about. It's not like when we were kids anymore, is it?"

"No, I don't reckon it is. We're all grown up now, aren't we?" Harry replied, putting his mug of cocoa on the counter and taking her into his arms.

"Yes."

He enjoyed how she felt in his arms. Harry took in a breath letting the scent of her freshly washed hair fill his nose with its wonderful scent. And then, the answer to his problem just hit him. It was so simple, but had it not been for this moment, he never would have thought of it. He pulled himself back, keeping her in his arms and looking down into her eyes. "Do you want to know why I went flying this morning?" he asked softly.

"You don't have to tell me that Harry. I understand its all top secret."

"Well, this one isn't. I mean it is, but it's not about work. You see, I've been seeing this woman."

"You've been seeing a woman," Hermione said with very distinct chill. The look on her face was actually quite priceless. Her eyes grew wide, bulging into a look of horror mixed with a sudden flush of anger. Harry could almost read her mind. It was something along the lines of Oh my God! He's met someone else…He's met someone else and now he's going to dump me!

Harry smiled tenderly, "Now before you get all excited let me tell you about this woman. I think you will like what I have to say. I met this woman about twelve years ago. We were on a train, both of us going to our first day at Hogwarts. She was far different then than she is now. She was nervous and scared and really unsure of herself, but she was also really smart and driven to be the best student in our year at school. The thing was that she knew so much more than everyone else, she came off as being this very annoying little know-it-all.

"But she had other qualities. She was kind and warm, and after a while, this annoying little know-it-all sort of grew on me until she had become one of my closest friends. I discovered that this girl was really something very special. Not only was she smart but clever and one of the bravest people I have ever had the honor to know.

"Sure, we had our problems and our disagreements, but we always got passed them. She stood by me through all of the good times and the bad times, and through the worst of it all, she was there to help me through it when I needed her the most.

"This girl grew into a beautiful and extraordinary woman, and then, we started growing closer and closer to one another, much closer than I'd ever thought we would. It took me a very long time to figure out what she had come to mean to me and how I really felt about her, and when I finally did understand all of it, I decided that I needed to tell her how I felt, and since I'd made her wait so long for this already, I decided that I had to tell her today. I'd made her wait long enough for me to tell her.

"The problem was how was I supposed to tell her all of this? It had to be done in the right way because she deserves nothing less. So, this morning I started thinking about all of the things I could do, trying to come up with a plan. Not only did it have to be done the right way, but I had to do something big to show her what how much she meant to me. I came up with a lot of ideas but I didn't think she would like any of them.

"That's why I went out flying this morning, so I could clear my head. Now that I've done that, I think I've figured out what I need to do. I don't need to do anything grand or spectacular. I just need to say it from my heart. That is all that is important." Harry stood silently for a moment, just looking at Hermione. She was biting her lower lip in anticipation of what he was about to say, and her eyes were still wide open but now filled with tears. Now was the time, and with a deep breath Harry said, "Hermione, I love you."

Hermione closed her eyes, let out a quiet gasp, and just said, "Finally."

Okay, sorry about the massive length of time between this chapter and the last. I promise it won't be as long of a wait for Finally: Part 2. It's actually pretty much done as it is now, just needs a bit of tweaking. Hopefully, only a few days on that one...a week at most.