A/N: This was slightly too long to post on the discord, so here it is. The prompt was "four elements."

Australia Trip – Day 1: Earth

Hermione buried her feet in the sand, relishing the feel of the cold earth on her skin and the grains of sand scratching the space between her toes. She let out a long sigh, which was mirrored by someone just behind her. She jumped and turned to find Ron taking a seat on the beach, next to her.

"Hey."

She nodded.

"You – uh – didn't do it."

"I know that, Ron!" she snapped. Then, she took a deep breath and apologized. He told her he understood. She told him she wanted to be alone. He left.

A few moments later, Harry was there, sitting in the spot Ron had recently abandoned. "I didn't do it," she sighed.

"I know."

She pressed her forehead against her knees. He wrapped an arm around her. "It's okay to take your time with this. It's a complicated spell."

"That's not why I couldn't do it."

"I know."

A few tears fell onto her knees and Harry, probably in response to the sobs he could feel shaking her body, tightened his grip on her. "Ron said you wanted to be alone. Is it okay that I'm-?"

"I didn't mean you."

"Yeah…I figured but-" he paused to sigh. "I wish I could say something to make you feel better. Tell me what to say."

She let out a breath of a laugh. "There's nothing to say. Just be here."

He rested his head on her shoulder. "Done."

Australia Trip – Day 2: Wind

The wind was howling, whipping her hair wildly around. As her tears fell, they seemed to immediately disappear, taken away by the fierce wind. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Ron. Then, another hand reaching for her palm on her other side, linking their fingers together. Harry.

"You should come inside," Ron said, having to shout to be heard over the wind.

She shook her head. They stood there for several minutes, the wind swirling around them, then Harry squeezed her hand, leaned in, and muttered, "Yell."

She turned and looked at him over her shoulder, confused. "What?" she mouthed.

"Just yell," he said louder. "You're frustrated, they're frustrated, and no one's really wrong or right here and it and sucks and just – just, yell, Hermione! Get it out!"

She turned to Ron, who just shrugged.

"Yell?"

As if to demonstrate, Harry shouted at the top of his lungs, letting out a strange-sounding war cry that Hermione couldn't help but laugh at. "Harry! Someone will hear you."

"No over this racket. Come on. It's your turn."

She didn't shout. She was too embarrassed. Even though he was right about not being overheard, the wind had swallowed the sounds of his shouts almost as soon as he'd made them.

Ron yelled next and his war cry was even more absurd than Harry's. Hermione started laughing again. "I think Harry's got the right idea," Ron said, shooting Hermione a grin. "Now you try."

Hermione started yelling at the top of her lungs. She yelled and yelled and yelled, until her throat was raw. Then she laughed, so hard that her stomach muscles were sore, then she cried as the last bit of emotion she'd been holding in escaped her body.

Her limbs began to fold in on themselves but before she collapsed Harry caught her. She buried her head in his neck as she sobbed. "It's okay," he murmured, running his fingers through her hair. "You're going to be okay."

Australia Trip – Day 3: Water

Harry and Ron were splashing in the water. Hermione was watching them as she sat down to tea with her mum on the porch of her parent's house.

"You love him," her mum said crisply, placing her cup down on the table.

Hermione nodded, keeping her gaze on the boys.

"You left us for him, you put yourself in unnecessary danger for him, you followed him into the darkest of tunnels, and you made it out the other side with him."

A tear began to fall down Hermione's cheek.

"You were willing to risk everything for him and now…this?"

Hermione wiped her face with the back of her hand. "This?" she whispered.

"You're hiding," her mum said sternly. "It clear he doesn't know."

Hermione shook her head.

Her mother reached over and placed a hand on her arm. It felt awkward. Everything between them was awkward. It would like this for a long time, but they'd get to where they were before, if they worked at it. "Tell him, dear. He deserves to know."

"I've been telling him for years," Hermione thought, but didn't say.

Australia Trip – Day 4: Fire

"Ron's gone," Hermione announced as she took a seat next to Harry, who was sitting cross-legged in the sand, staring into the fire.

"What?" he said, pulling his gaze away. "Why would he leave? Did something happen? He promised he'd never-"

"It's fine," she cut in. "He was upset, understandably, and I – I told him he could go. And you – you can go too, if you want."

"I don't want to. You need friends right now. This things with your parents, I know how hard it is for you."

Hermione bit her lip, then said to the fire, "I have to tell you something. And after that, you might want to leave."

He sidled closer to her. "There's nothing you could say that would make me want to leave." She closed her eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Now you're scaring me. What happened?"

"I love you."

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter. He kept his hand in place. Everything was quiet. The only sound in the still night was the faint sound of waves in the distance and the crackling of the fire.

"That's what you told Ron?" he asked, dropping his hand from her shoulder. She nodded.

"Look at me."

"No thank you."

"Look at me, Hermione."

When she opened her eyes, he was watching her intently, his green eyes shining in the firelight. They stood there staring at each other for several moments, then he lifted his hand and pushed a curl behind her ear. His gaze softened and a warmth flowed through her, one that had nothing to do with her proximity to the fire.

He feathered his fingers down, sending chills through her body, and stopped when he reached the back of her neck. "You love me?"

She nodded.

"Damn." Her heart fell. "I thought I was going to be the one to say it first."

Hermione started and was still trying to piece together the meaning of his words when he leaned forward and covered her mouth with his.

A/N: I've been writing way too many drabbles for this challenge when I should be writing my current Dramione WIP. Oh well... If you want to see the rest of the Harmony drabbles, I'm posting them on Tumblr at Alexandra-Emerson.