Lost in You-Chapter One------

Disclaimer: ALL characters and settings are NOT mine, but the brilliant work of jk rowling, so please don't sue

"BOY, GET DOWN HERE AND COOK US SOME BREAKFAST, AND HURRY, I'M HUNGRY!"

"Yes Uncle Vernon"

Harry replied groggily.

It was early morning in Privet Drive and small rays of sunlight had just started to hit the small room in which Harry Potter slept. He sighed, pushing the covers off himself and stumbled to his feet. He took a quick shower and tried to comb his hair, to no avail. He looked pale and sick in the mirror, and felt like sleeping and never waking up. He had ended his fifth year at Hogwarts and only gotten back to the Dursleys no more than two days. They were already making as much use of their slave (him) as possible. Harry wanted to curse them; hex them to the fiery depths of hell. They made sure his life was one, every summer.

He felt simply misrable that he had lost Sirius, and almost lost Hermione.He couldn't imagine life without her or Ron by his side. Gazing longingly in to a recient photograph of the three of them at Hogsmeade, he wished he could jump into the picture and leave his current living quarters. As Harry walked down the stairs, his friends were still in his thoughts. Even the scrambled eggs he made for his uncle reminded him of Ron stuffing eggs in his mouth.

It was around mid-day when Harry heard a tap at his window. His heart jumped. It was Errol, the Weasly family's owl. Harry opened the window and spread out a letter from Ron, and another from Hermione. He decided to read Ron's first.

Harry,

How are you?I hope you are doing well; I know its hard to for you to try and move on and if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to ask. Mums been worried sick about you, and wants you at the Burrow as soon as possible. She says she needs to fatten you up. I warn you, as soon as you are here, she'll have you eat until you cant eat anymore.

It wont be all eating and no playing Harry! Fred and George have invented serveral new products and wanted to show you them.No, not test them on you, but show them to you haha! I thought these might cheer you up, the joke products are from Fred and George, but the candies and chocolate frogs are from Hermione and me. We will come to pick you up in a week on Saturday at 10pm, sharp.

All the best,

Ron

Harry laughed and remembered how nice it was to have someone be so motherly and concerned about him. The Weaslys were like the family he never had. They always included him and made him feel like a family member. Harry carefully unwrapped the package of candies and jokes and smiled. He would get some satisfaction on testing the jokes on Dudley and his uncle.

Opening a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean, he unrolled Hermione's letter. He glanced over at her picture by his bedside and longed to spend time with her. She had grown quite a bit over the years, her curves accented more and her hair looked marvelous the way it curled slightly and flowed down her shoulders.Harry loved the way her hair smelled. Every morning at the breakfast table, even if he had something in his mouth, he could smell her intoxicating green apple shampoo. She had gotten a fair bit taller and looked much more feminine than when he first met her and her smile made his heart melt and made him feel safe from all his problems.

'Omgosh, am I checking out my best friend? No, it cant be, I'm just looking at how much she's changed since I first met her..'

He decided to shake the thought off and began to read,

Dear Harry,

I know its been hard on you ever since Sirius was taken from you. I want to assure you it was not your fault that it all turned out the way it did. Do not blame yourself, the only one to blame is You-know-who. I hope you are holding up alright, and the jokes that were went to you were actually for whenever those horrid Dursleys mistreat you. I really miss you, its not the same here at the Burrow without you. Mrs Weasley is constantly worrying about you, as am I. If you have to talk about anything at all, anytime, I don't care if it is 3 am, please, talk to me. I'll be there for you always, you should know that by now. You cant keep your feelings and thoughts forever Harry,they'll manifest inside you and I wont let that happen. We'll come for you in a week. (Rons mentioned the time already in his letter) I cant wait to see you.

Love,

Hermione

Harry grinned. It was typical of Hermione to worry about him so much and he wished he could hug her and tell her how much he was thankful of having her as a friend. His eyes stared at the way she signed off.

'love, Hermione? Did she really mean that?'

A thousand thoughts ran into his mind when he thought of her. Lately he couldn't take his mind off of her and how he had almost lost her forever. He would have probably commited suicide if she died. He would never be the same person without her.

The next week went by quickly and Harry was looking forward to the time he could see his friends again. During the past week, Harry thoughts were always occupied by Hermione. He suddenly realized by the sixth day that he was in love with her. Everything reminded him of her. The walls of his tiny room were the same color as her hair, his small book collection even reminded him of her love for books.

'no, I cant love her, every person I had ever loved were taken away from me. I don't want that to happen to Hermione'

He decided not to ever tell her about his secret love for her.

"Harry! Hey Harry! We're here, get your stuff!" Ron shouted.

Harry quickly ran down the stairs with his trunk, said a quick hello to Mr.Weasley and took hold of his hand and Rons and apparated with him to the Burrow. As soon as he arrived, Mrs Weasley pulled him into a tight hug and told him to go into the kitchen to wait for dinner. Harry smiled, knowing full well that he would be stuffed with food like a turkey.

"Harry! You're here!"

Hermione squealed at the top of the stairs. She hurried down the steps and leapt onto Harry bringing him into a hug.

"I've missed you too Hermione,"

She looked up at him with a smile brighter than the sun, took his hand and lead him to the dinner table.

Harry couldn't take his eyes off her. All throughout dinner he stole glances as her as she ate and laughed along with the rest of the Weasleys. Her carefree laugh made Harry's heart pump faster. He noticed by this time that he wasn't breathing properly and turning red so he excused himself from the table and headed up the stairs to his room.

'I really hope that she didn't see me staring at her..'

he thought with a sigh. He pushed open his bedroom door and flopped onto the bed.

"Harry, is something wrong?"

It was Hermione at the door and she looked very concerned as usual. Harry mentally kicked himself. He would never be able to tell her how much he cared for her and how he wished he could be more than just a friend to her. If he ever did, Voldermort would take her away from him for all eternity. He sat up and faced her,

"No, why do you ask?" he lied and turned away.

"because during dinner you seemed like you were in your own little world, what where you thinking about?"

Harry somehow knew she was going to ask him if he was alright. She was constantly fussing over him and worrying about what he was thinking about. It could get annoying every once and a while, but he never showed he was annoyed because he knew she cared deeply for him, as her own brother, but he still wanted to be more than that to her. She gazed into his piercing emerald greenish blue eyes trying to find out what was wrong. Neither of the them realized how long she was looking into his eyes until Harry snapped back to his senses.

"oh, I...uh...was just tired, ...that's all" he replied.

"ok,..but if you need to talk about anything, I'll be in the next room," she said with a smile.

Harry's heart pounded as she left the room.

'She was in my room..I should have told...how I wish I could just hold her forever without the fear of Voldermort taking her away from me..'

He layed down on his bed and decided to sleep.

The next few weeks of his summer vacation were uneventful and he found himself spending more and more time with Hermione. Everytime he looked into her eyes he felt like he was home, and safe. He knew she could never be more than a friend and his eyes taunted him each time he looked upon her.

(switch view point to Hermione)

Harry always seemed off in space, his eyes drifted farther and farther away. She could understand that he missed his godfather, but she couldn't understand why he looked at her with desprate eyes. At times she could feel his eyes on her but decided it wasn't anything to be concerned about. He had grown so much over the years and Quidditch had made his body more muscular. She blushed at the thought of him. She had known him for five years and only realized that she was obsessed with him in her fourth year. She couldn't show her feelings to him because she didn't want him to reject her and think that she was another crazy "Boy-Who-Lived" fan. Each time she looked into his eyes she felt weak kneed, and her body tingled everytime she heard his name. She always felt protected in his arms. The times that he hugged her, she never wanted to let go. She wanted to stay there forever knowing that he was near her.She always felt drawn to him, like a magnet.

The summer ended and Harry, Ron and Hermione climbed aboard the train to Hogwarts. They chose their favorite compartment, sat down and ordered their usual sweets from the candy trolley. Ron started wolfing down his chocolate frogs while Harry and Hermione stared out the window to the countryside. Hermione was sitting next Harry when the train suddenly shook and knocked her over. Harry caught her as she fell on him. She thanked him blushing while he smiled.

"anytime mione," he said.

Her head started to spin as he looked away. She couldn't speak for quite some time after that.

"well, well, well,...look what we have here, mudblood and her body guards Saint Potter and muggle lover," Draco Malfoy sneered as he walked past their compartment.

To Harry's surprise, Hermione smiled, walked over to Draco calmly and said,

"how was your summer?"

Draco looked dumbfounded and was about to reply when she asked,

"I cant wait until school starts, what about you?"

Harry and Ron choked on their Bertie Botts beans and looked at eachother, puzzled.

'What in the devil is Hermione thinking? Shes talking to him like he's been her friend for ages..' Harry thought.

Malfoy looked just as puzzled.

Hermione leaned closer to Malfoy and his heart pounded.

'what is she going to do?' he thought.

Hermione smiled again, then faster than lighting, she punched him in the nose and kicked him )with such force it would have made a professional soccer player jealous)where it hurt most. Malfoy's eyes rolled back and he screamed in pain. She grinned and and said triumphantly,

"if you dare insult my friends or me again, I wont hold back my strength,"

she whurrled around and sat down next to Harry. The boys were wide eyed and stared at her. Ron broke the silence and stuttered

"I'm glad I'm on your good side.."

Harry nodded in agreement. Malfoy hobbled away wincing while the other students laughed at and teased him.

"you got beaten by a girl,"

and "loser"

were heard all throughout the train. Harry and Ron seemed a bit on edge the rest of the train ride to Hogwarts and Hermione couldn't stop smiling and feeling proud of what she had done. The trio stepped off the train and as soon as the feast was over, they walked up to the Griffindor common room. Ron yawned and left his friends in the common room while he headed up to the boys dormitories. He could see the way that his friends looked at eachother. He grinned. He knew that they were attracted to eachother and purposly left them alone in the common room. He really wasn't very tired. If he left the two alone, maybe they could stop beating around the bush and admit that they liked eachother. There was a time that Ron liked Hermione but he knew that she was destined to be with Harry. He signed and shook his head. They could be so stubborn at times. He fell asleep within an hour thinking of the next day and how much homework Snape would pile on him.

Harry sat down on the chair near the fireplace and smiled at Hermione admiring her features as well as what she had done on the train. The firelight flicked on her face making her even more beautiful than she was normally. Hermione gazed into Harry's gorgeous eyes and felt herself turn completely red.

"so are you excited about school tomorrow Harry?" she asked.

"absolutly not,..especially Snape's class.."he replied with a chuckle.

Hermione couldn't feel her legs at this time and decided to sit down before she fell flat on her face. Harry's laughter made her legs turn to jelly. The two chatted sometime before Hermione yawned and headed up to bed. Harry smiled once again as she headed up the stairs. He watched her step up to the girls dorms and stared at her figure. He turned away quickly and felt frustrated. What if she didn't feel the same about him as he did about her? He would want to die. He longed to taste her lips on his. He eyes were always transfixed on them when she spoke.

'I need a cold shower,...' he thought as he lay down on his bed.

Surprisingly, Snape gave very little homework the next few weeks. He gave next to nothing to the students when the Slytherins won the first Quidditch game against Hufflepuff.

"wow, I never Snape had it in him to not give us so much homework," Hermione said.

"Yeah! We should let the Slytherins win more games more often," Ron said with a laugh. Harry laughed along with him and Hermione.

She had that "you've got to be kidding me" look on her face.

The rest of the weeks progressed as usual and Harry struggled not to blurt out how he felt about Hermione to her. Winter arrived and Ron was packing to go home for the holidays.

There would be a masked ball tonight and Harry took the longest time getting ready than he had ever remembered. Hermione wondered whether or not she should go to the dance. There wasn't any point in going anyway. She was never asked to dance, and she always felt left out.'he'll be there' her heart told her. She tried to fight against it but gave in and got ready. She took out her deep red dress and mask and changed into it all the while thinking about Harry and fantasising about what would happen if he asked her to dance. It she admitted she liked him, the press would have a field-day and she didn't want Harry to deal with it. Ginny assisted her in combing her hair and doing it up for her. Hermione also helped Ginny with her dress and hair. Hemione slipped on her mask which covered the top half of her face and headed down to the great hall.

Harry was finally ready and his mask matched his dressy tux/robe. His mask covered the top of his face and most importantly, his scar.

He looked over to his table with a picture of Sirius on it. Harry's eyes started to water; he missed him so much. Harry wished someone could cure his pain and thought of all the people who expected him to defeat Voldermort. People expected so much out of him, and didn't realize how hard it was to be the "boy who lived". His soul felt broken and tattered into shreds. Harry started to wonder why he was even going to the stupid dance.

'I wish I could just tell them all to go to hell,...' he grumbled

. 'kill,...kill..'

'you're not touching my son! Get away from him!'

His memories haunted him.'nooo! don't hurt her!'

..his tears rolled down his face. He remembered all the people who died for him. Sirius, his parents, and he remembered when Cedric died. He angrily wiped his tears away as Ron called for him. He slipped his contacts on and trotted down to the great hall with Ron who immediately ran over to the dessert table. Harry laughed and sat down at the Griffindor table.He thought he saw Hermione chatting with Ginny Weasley and he looked around. He couldn't recognize anyone.

Suddenly someone immediately caught his eye. She was standing at the side of the great hall drinking a tall glass of pumpkin juice. The girl was wearing the most beautiful deep rose dress that hung nicely on her petite body and she wore off-white gloves. Her dark blonde hair was tied up into a fancy style, and her bangs hung part way down her white mask. Harry's heart pounded and he started to sweat. He felt awkward and extremly nervous. He glanced at the girl again and saw that she was likely very pretty without her mask on. The music started for the slow dance and Harry thought he heard a familiar laugh coming from the girl. He made his way over to her and fumbled around with his words until he finally asked,

"mMm.mmuh..mua..May i..i.ii uh..have this dance?"

'Dammit Harry, cant you speak english?!' he scolded himself.

The girl smiled at him and he stared at her eyes. They made him feel happy and carefree. They were so familiar but he couldn't put his finger on who they belonged to.

"yes" the girl politely replied.

Harry recognized the song the dj was playing. It was a muggle song.He held the girl's hand and lead her to the dance floor. His body tingled all over when she put her arms around his neck, and he could swore he could hear his heart pounding as if it was trying to escape his body. Hermione couldn't breathe. Harry had just asked her to dance and didn't have a clue to who she was. She gasped inaudibly when he brought his arms around her waist. The song being played seemed to mirror what she was feeling for him, and she was surprised by how close it was to how she felt. Harry was also surprised because the first words that were sung by the singer reflected exactly how he felt about Hermione, although she was most likely dancing with Ron.

(disclaimer-I don't own this song..it's by seether ft amy lee from evanesscence and I thought it suited this the best-full credit to them for this song)

I wanted you to know, that I love the way you laugh,

I want to hold you high and steal your pain away,

I keep your photograph and I know it serves me well,

I want to hold you high and steal your pain..

Harry felt surprised at how well the song seemed to decribe his feelings towards Hermione. He loved the way she laughed and secretly kept her picture with him at all times. He shook his head. He shouldn't exactly be thinking about her when he had a mystery on his hands. Literally. He smiled and concentrated on enjoying the dance with this mystery girl he had in his arms. He couldn't stop looking at her as he danced with her along the great hall.

Because I'm broken, when I'm lonesome,

And I don't feel right, when your gone away,

Hermione knew she couldn't tell Harry about her feelings. She thanked god that she had a mask. It was her only opertunity to get this close to Harry.

You've gone away,...it don't feel right..

The song was a duet and the woman in the song had started to sing. Harry felt as if this song was revealing his soul to the world, yet he never wanted it to end; he never wanted to let go of the girl. He wanted to dance with her for all eternity. She was light and kept him guessing who she was. He despretly wanted to move her mask off her face.

The worst is over now, and we can breathe again,

I want to hold you high and steal my pain,..away,

There's so much left to learn, and no more left to fight,

I want to hold you high and steal your pain...

Hermione felt as if there was no one else in the great hall. She felt lost and yet she felt as if she was at home in Harry's unsuspecting eyes.

Because I'm broken, when I'm open,

And I don't feel right, I aint strong enough,

'cause I'm broken, when I'm lonesome,

and I don't feel right when your gone away,..

Hermione almost cried. She could sense the song was about to end and she never wanted to leave Harry's arms. She knew he would ask her who she was. She could never tell him and she didn't want to lose her friend.

'cause I'm broken, when I'm open,

and I don't feel right, I a'int stong enough,

'cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome,

and I don't feel right, when you're gone away..

'cause I'm broken...

Hermione pulled away from Harry when she felt a tear rolling down her cheek. She dashed off leaving Harry dumbfounded and calling out to her to stop running. She felt overwhelmed by the one dance she danced with him. She would never be able to do that again. She realized she loved him but if he found out, it would change her relationship with him forever, and she didn't know if it would be for the better or worst.

"Wait! Please don't go!" Harry called after her.

He could tell she was crying, and he wanted to know why. He started to run.He could still hear the music in the backround.

you've gone away, it don't feel right..

Who was this girl? And why is she running away?' he thought.

He caught sight of her, she was outside and had her head against wall. She was still crying and she pounded a fist on the wall.

"why did you run away?" he asked gently,

"I don't want to see who I am," she said solemnly.

"please, at least give me a clue.." he pleaded.

"I'm ..i...I'm sorry ..i can't".

Hermione's heart was starting to break into millions of tiny pieces. She didn't want to hurt Harry's feelings and yet here she was breaking his heart.

"please, at least give me a clue," he begged.

More tears welled up in Hermione's eyes. She was torturing him, mentally. She knew how persistant he could be but didn't want to give into his puppy-dog eyes.

"please ..j..just go.."She stammered.

"You can never know who I am..."

She could barely speak.

"please let me know who you are.."

Hermione couldn't take anymore. Harry leant down wrapped his arms around the girl and captured her lips in a gentle kiss before she could protest. The girl deepened the kiss and broke away from him. Harry unmasked and he saw another tear run down the girl's cheek. She stepped back slightly and slowly unmasked. Harry gasped and was in total shock. He didn't know how to react or what to say.