Harry--
Meet me in the common room at midnight.
Please? It's important.
Harry sighed. He had a lot of
homework, and a test tomorrow. But if Hermione said it was important...
Hermione paced the room. She was nervous. She didn't really even know what she was going to say to
Harry. Possible scenarios crossed her
mind, but she rejected them all.
"Oh, God. What am I doing?"
"I don't really know, but I really
wanna go to bed, Hermione. So can we
make this quick?"
"Well thanks for the moral
support Harry! I'm going through a crisis here! I don't know what to do…"
"Okay, okay. Calm down." Harry grabbed the frustrated Hermione by the arm, and led her to the
couch, where he set her down gently and then sat beside her.
"What's wrong, Hermie?"
"Hermie? I don't think you've
ever called me that… You know what? I was in your room today, and guess
what?" Hermione rambled on, not quite
sure what she was talking about. She
was in such a high state of confusion that she was nearly unaware of what she
was doing.
"What?" Harry said,
comfortingly.
"Neville! He said he loved me!
It was really weird… He was saying about his parents and… well, I didn't really
catch all of it, I was too shocked. I
mean really! Neville love me? You don't even love me Harry, and
I've known you forever."
"Hermione-"
But Hermione needed to get all
of this out, and she was going too fast to be pacified now.
"I'm not really sure what
feelings I have for you, Harry. And it
scares me because I don't want to lose such a good friend. You're the best friends I have, you and Ron,
and I don't know what I would do if I lost either one of you! But since you obviously don't like me…" Hermione
quieted as she had finished all that she wanted to say. She was still upset and confused, but she
felt a lot better for the time being.
"Are you done?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes." She whispered
back. Then he leaned her back onto
himself, and held her gently. He sat
there, and rubbed her arm, comforting her in the only way he knew how. They sat there, collapsed against each
other, just thinking and enjoying one another's presence. Hermione turned to look at Harry. She looked straight into her best friend's
eyes, and then she knew. She knew how
Neville felt, she knew how Harry felt, and, miraculously, she knew how she
felt.
She was in love with a
wonderful guy. And it wasn't
Neville. Feeling safe and secure, she
fell asleep in Harry's arms, content with her newfound knowledge.
* finis *