A/N: Surprise! Since there was quite a few people interested in seeing a part two, I went ahead and wrote one. This is NOT part of my head canon, but it was fun to write Hermione choosing to be with Harry. NOW this little fic is complete :)

Enjoy!

"Are you mad?"

Hermione's step faltered for a moment. Her chest tightened with fear as she watched Ron and Harry continue on.

"You can't give yourself up to him."

She stopped at Ron's side, gently laying her hand on her forearm as she watched Harry stop on a landing before them. With Ron not moving forward, she took a few extra steps. "What is it, Harry?" She knew he would go to the forest the moment the Dark Lord had made the request, but she felt it in her gut there was more to the story. More to the reason Harry would choose to turn himself in. "What is it you know?"

There was a few seconds where time stood still before Harry turned to face her. "There's a reason I can hear them," he started. "The Horcruxes. I think I've known for awhile." Tears pricked at her eyes as he gave her that look; the one that he always gave when she was right about something. "And I think you have to."

Her sob was more of a gasp; not one of surprise, but one of regret. As much as she loved being correct, she had never wanted to be right about this. "I'll go with you." It was a beg, a plea, a cry; anything to make sure she didn't let him out of her side.

His answer was quick. "No. Kill the snake." His gaze flickered over her to Ron. "Kill the snake and then it's just him."

She was moving. The few steps she took felt like they might be her last. She threw her arms around him and held tight, sobbing quietly as he did the same. "I love you," she whispered, her breath shaky as she tried to contain her tears.

"I love you too," he said, his voice equally quiet.

Whether it was because of their friendship or something more, it didn't matter. It was true. He needed to hear it just as much as she needed to say it. If things went badly…

Their embrace lasted for eternity, yet ended far too soon. He was the one to pull away, pushing at her when she held on tighter. Just like that first night and all the others, there was a moment of hesitation. A moment where they had to decide.

But now wasn't the time for that. She wasn't sure if it ever would be again.

Another sob tore from her throat as he withdrew from her hold and turned walked away without a word to either of them. She could feel Ron at her side, his hand on the small of her back for comfort. There had been so much loss already, but losing Harry wouldn't be something she could ever recover from.

As she turned to look at Ron, he disappeared. Instead, they were in the courtyard watching the Death Eater's approach. Some of them had Hagrid in chains and were leading him forward like an animal. But that wasn't what disturbed her the most. It was the fact that his arms were raised. That he was carrying something. Someone.

And as the Dark Lord made his announcement, it felt as if the breath had been sucked from her lungs and the ground pulled out from beneath her feet.

"Harry Potter is dead!"

Hermione woke with a gasp, her entire body seizing with fear. A sob escaped her as tears streamed down her face. She fought to move, but something tightened around her, preventing her from doing so. The panic surged again and just as she opened her mouth to scream for help, she heard it.

"I'm here, Hermione. It was a dream."

It took several minutes for her breathing to regulate and reality to come crashing back down. They weren't in the tent in some forest behind wards. They weren't in the castle while destruction rained down around them. They were at Grimmauld in Sirius' old room. Harry hadn't been dead; he'd been pretending. And now his body was cradled to hers and it was his arms around her, holding her tight.

She turned to face him, her hand rising up to cup his face. "It wasn't a dream, Harry. It was real."

"Was," he agreed. "It's over now."

It didn't feel over. Not really. It had only been a few weeks since the Battle of Hogwarts. A few weeks of interviews, conferences, and funerals. The only time they were ever even remotely capable of letting it all sink in was when they returned to Grimmauld. When it was just the two of them.

They had tried to stay at the Burrow, but there were too many people. Too much commotion. Too many people sobbing in their grief. In an unspoken conversation, the two had decided it wasn't the place for them. The Weasley's would always be their family, but they needed time to grieve for their losses on their own. And Hermione needed Harry just as much as he needed her.

At first they had taken separate rooms. She had slept the first night simply because she was too exhausted to remember to breathe let alone fight off sleep. The next few nights she had just lay awake, staring at the ceiling. It had been nearly a year since she'd had a room that she could close the door to. Nearly a year since having something that was just hers. Only, it wasn't hers. Just like everything else, this was temporary too.

They kept finding themselves awake in the living room. They would huddle together on the couch. She nearly always fell asleep the moment her head touched his shoulder. They hadn't been staying at Grimmauld for a full week before she stole into his room early instead of waiting to find him downstairs. He had just watched her as she crossed the distance to the bed and curled into him. Every night after that she would open his door to find him waiting for her with the covers peeled back. Every night she would fall asleep with him behind her and his arms holding her flush to him.

"You died."

"I had to."

They had had this argument almost every day since the first morning she'd woken up in his bed. The nightmares were intermittent, but the memories were always there, lingering just beneath the surface. Even when it was his cries that woke her up, the argument always occurred and it always ended the same.

"I had to," he repeated.

Maybe one day she would let it go; understand the truth of his words. But that day was far into the future.

"You came back." Her words were always more of a reassurance to herself. Sometimes seeing or touching him wasn't enough. Sometimes she had to do both just to make sure it wasn't a dream.

"I needed you."

She cupped his jaw and moved forward a little so that they could rest their foreheads against one another's. "Ron wants to talk about us," she breathed. "About him and I."

"So does Ginny."

Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Neither one of them had talked about it. All the times their unspoken need had pushed them together. Many a time she had found herself beneath him on the cot. Every time it was harder to pretend there wasn't something between them. The closeness they had developed remained, but their physical connection was severed the moment Ron returned.

Even after all the nights they had spent sharing a bed at Grimmauld, their need for one another hadn't escalated beyond sleeping next to one another. The few times she had to be away from him felt like agony and she could tell the moment he returned that he felt the same.

"What should we tell them?"

"What do you want to tell them?" he countered.

A small puff of air left her lips as her hand slid back to push his unruly hair from his face. "I don't want to be with him," she said. It was the first time she had admitted it out loud. It was odd; the weight that lifted from her once the words were said. She had loved Ron, or thought she had, for so long that to only love him as a friend was surreal.

"I don't want to be with her."

The corners of her lips twitched and she nodded. They hadn't been together long and most of it had been right before they went on the run. On his end, Harry had only just realized Ginny was more than his friend's sister. Much like Ron had only just started seeing her as more than a friend.

"They're going to hate us."

"Maybe for awhile, but not forever."

"Ron left us, Harry," she reminded him, pulling away enough so she could push herself up and stared down at him. His elbow bent behind her, his hand coming up to rest on her back. "He left because of us."

"It wasn't like we planned this, Hermione."

"I know, but-"

"Do you regret it?"

His words caught her off guard and she paused with her mouth still open from the sentence she had been about to finish. Slowly, her lips pressed together and turned down, eyes narrowing at him in the process. "No."

"Neither do I," he declared and smiled as her gaze softened. His other hand reached up to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing away tears she hadn't known were there. "You're the only one who will ever truly understand what happened. The only one who will ever understand me. First and foremost, you'll always be my best friend and I want nothing more than to see you happy. Even if it's not with me. I'll always love you. I want-" he paused to shake his head, "no, I need you to make whatever decision is best for you."

After a moment of just staring at him with wide eyes, Harry moved so he could lean up and kiss her temple before moving, but she grabbed hold of him before he could get up. After a moment of looking at him, Hermione spoke. "I've already made my choice, Harry. It's the same one I've been making since we met and it's one that I will always make."

Tears glossed her cheeks as the words flowed freely for the first time in years. It was everything she hadn't realized she had needed to say. She had always been in love with her best friend, but it wasn't until a short time ago that she realized it wasn't the one she'd initially thought.

"I choose you, Harry."

It wasn't a surprise when she found herself beneath him; legs wrapped around his hips. His lips were soft against hers as their mouths moved as one. Tears wet her skin, but she couldn't tell if they were his or hers. His hand was warm against her skin as it stole up the oversized shirt she always wore to bed. She moaned softly into his mouth as he cupped her breast and gave it a light squeeze, his thumb grazing over her nipple.

"Harry…" she breathed as he pulled away from her lips to kiss his way down her throat. "Harry, wait."

He went still for a moment before he pushed himself up on his elbow. His hand remained at her breast; his fingers twitching with the desire to continue. "I thought-"

"I want this, Harry," she rasped, nodding her head rapidly. "I want this more than anything, but I think we should talk to Ron and Ginny first."

He swallowed hard, the apple of his throat bobbing. He took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh before removing his hand from her skin and rolling onto his side. "You're right," he muttered.

"I know," she mumbled back, closing her eyes as she tried to put out the fire he had ignited in her gut. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head and turned it to face her. His hand sought hers between them and grasped it tightly. "Don't apologize, Hermione. Wanting to wait until we talk to them is the responsible thing to do."

"It won't hurt any less," she whispered, turning her head to give him a sad smile.

"No," he agreed, "But it would hurt more." He gave a small shrug. "At least this way you can honestly tell him you were never unfaithful."

She gave a light sigh, but nodded. "We should talk to them as soon as possible."

"Today?"

Hermione couldn't help the laughter that bubbled past her lips from the eager sound of Harry's voice. When she turned her head to look at him, he had a grin on his face; one that she hadn't seen in a very long time. "Today," she promised.

Knowing it was just a matter of time before they could truly be together and not just in stolen moments while on the run, Hermione couldn't wipe the smile from her face. There was still so much uncertainty as far as the future was concerned, but as she nestled herself back into Harry's embrace, she knew that together, they could take on whatever came their way.