I Knew I Loved Him Then
Prologue
I knew I loved him then. It was that very moment. I had a spur of the moment impulse to throw my arms around his neck. I was worried sick about what You-Know-Who would do to him. If Snape was with him, Harry was dead meat. I was currently on Professor McGonagall's chess board.
"Ron, come on, get up!" I shouted. "RON! Come on, we have to get to the owlry and send Hedwig to Dumbledore. Oh God! Ron! We have to hurry! You-Know-Who is going to get Harry! Ron, come on." I was almost on the verge of tears. I shook him hard.
"Mom, get off, I don't want to get up. Come back in an hour or three."
"Ron you idiot it's Hermione! Jeez that queen knocked you out hard."
"Sorry about that Hermione. Where's Harry?"
"I'll explain on the way." I heaved Ron to his feet and half dragged him back into the key chamber. We clambered onto the brooms and flew up through the trap door. When we got to Fluffy, I started to play Harry's flute again. We didn't even bother with the Invisibility Cloak. Ron grabbed it and stuffed it in his robes. As I explained what happened after Ron got knocked out, a though struck me.
"Ron, neither of us have owls," I said.
"Don't remind me Hermione. Now is not the time," Ron scowled.
"That's not what I meant. So you know the way to the owlry?"
"Uh…."
"Didn't think so." I changed course for Professor McGonagall's office. We had to tell her what was going on, she could help. Peeves was bouncing around in the front hall, overturning paintings and writing crude words on the walls.
"Peeves, would you kindly move out of the way," asked a kind voice from behind.
"Yes sir, Professor Dumbledore sir," said Peeves mockingly.
"Now," said Professor Dumbledore. He caught sight of me and Ron.
"He's gone after him, hasn't he?"
"Yeah," I said. "Professor Dumbledore, hurry." Ron and I hurried up to the Gryffindor tower. After we had clambered through the portrait hole, we found Neville, still lying on the floor. I said the countercurse and sat down in an arm chair to wait.
"Would you mind explaining why you did that?" asked Neville, getting gingerly to his feet. "I've been in that position for three hours."
"Later Neville," said Ron, looking at me, worried. "What's the matter Hermione?"
"Nothing," I answered. However, something was the matter. I, Hermione Granger, loved the Harry Potter and he only liked me as a friend. I was mortified. It's just nerves, I thought. It'll go away over the holidays. I slumped back in the chair to try and get some sleep, but it didn't work. A few hours later, Dumbledore came bursting through the portrait hole.
"Harry's going to be fine. You can go see him in the hospital wing, I've given Madam Pomfrey instructions not to shoo you out until he wakes up."
"Thank you, Professor." We ran down to the hospital wing to see Harry.
"Yes, come on in. His bed is right over here." This was the first time I had seen Harry without his glasses. You could see his scar throbbing. I had the urge to bend over and give him and give his scar a kiss, but Ron was there, so I decided against it. For three days, we stayed there by his bedside. Not wanting to leave, since he could wake up anytime, we only left to eat and sleep, and most of the time we had to be dragged kicking and screaming. Ron was treated for a slight concussion and had slept less than I in the past three days. Harry's eyes started to flicker.
"Ron, look. Harry's waking up." Unfortunately, Madam Pomfrey heard, so we were immediately bustled out of the room so she could call Dumbledore. We left, and went back up to the Gryffindor common room.
"You're back. That's a good sign," said Fred.
"How is he?" asked George.
"Awake," said Ron gloomily. "We aren't allowed to talk to him or see him until he's better. Sorry we missed the Quiditch match, how was it?"
"Brutal," said Fred.
"Humiliating," said George.
"We lost spectacularly to Ravenclaw," said Oliver. He had seen us come in and came to inquire about his seeker. "How is he?"
"He's awake."
"Hey everybody! Harry's awake!" Shouted an anonymous voice from the crowd. Cheers went up and everybody was ready for a party. Fred and George left, probably to the kitchens to snag some food.
"Come on Hermione," Ron whispered to me. "Let's go see Harry."
"Alright." We followed Fred and George out. My thoughts were only on Harry. When we got to the hospital wing I would tell him how I felt. Easier said than done.
When we got to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey gave us five minutes while Harry explained everything that happened.
"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"
"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that - what was it? - 'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"
"I always said he was off his rocker," explained Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was.
"So what happened to you two?" said Harry. I launched into the explanation this time.
"Well, I got back all right," I said. "I brought Ron round - that took awhile - and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall - he already knew - he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor." I conveniently left out the part about waiting day and night to see when he'd wake up.
"D'you think he meant to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"
"Well," I exploded. "if he did - I mean to say - that's terrible - you could have been killed." I hadn't meant to explode like that, but the prospect of facing life without Harry was too much to bear.
"No it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he taught us just enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could…."
"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won of course - you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you - but the food'll be good."
Now was the time to tell him. I opened my mouth, took a breath and…
"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," Madam Pomfrey came bustling over, saving me from a fate worse than death.
Ron and I started out for the Great Hall for lunch. My stomach was rumbling because of the little nutrition I had been getting. If mother knew she'd have a fit, I thought with a chuckle.
"You like him, don't you?" asked Ron.
"Of course I do. He's my friend, right?" I answered nervously. That was not the answer Ron was looking for. I knew he wouldn't stop bothering me until he got an answer, but it was worth a try.
"You know that's not what I mean," said Ron. "Don't worry Hermione, I won't tell him."
"Ron, come on. He's my friend. I don't like him like that," I lied.
"You're a really bad liar. I suggest you work on it over the summer," Ron laughed. "Hermione, it's obvious. You sit alone in the common room at night, and I can tell you're thinking about Harry."
"Of course I am Ron! Where have you been? Harry has been out cold for the past three days!"
"Hermione, I wouldn't be mad or anything, just don't lie to me. Let's try this again. You like him don't you?"
"Yes," I said in a barely audible whisper. I blushed furiously. "You won't tell anyone though, right?"
"Of course Hermione. Your secret is safe with me."
"Thanks Ron. You're a really good friend."
I saw Harry come into the Great Hall all alone at the beginning of the feast, and recoil at the sight of the green and silver. Slytherin colors. I knew exactly how he felt. Everyone hushed when they saw Harry, but then started talking loudly again. I waved to him, and pointed to the seat next to Ron across from me.
"Feeling better Harry?" I asked.
"I think I'm gonna be sick."
"You'll feel better after you eat something. The food's great."
"Another year gone!" said Dumbledore cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink out teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are a little fuller then they were . . . you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts. . . .
"Now, as I understand it, the house cup need awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy two." I looked over at the Slytherin table and was made queasy. It was horrible seeing Malfoy happy.
"Yes, yes well done Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken in to account." I saw him quickly look over at the table and wink, it happened so fast I though I had imagined it. From there on, I knew we had it in the bag. The room was deadly silent, you could have dropped a pin and heard it fall.
"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes . . .
"First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
"Way to go Ron!" I screamed at him. I clapped him on the back and smiled at him. He had turned purple. Percy could be heard making a fool of himself halfway down the table shouting,
"My youngest brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"
"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger…" My mouth fell open "For the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
This was too much. Harry grinned at me and I started to blush. "Way to go Hermione." I put my head down on the table and started to cry. Oh Harry, I thought. If you only knew.
A/N: R/H fans never fear! That one's coming next! I haven't quite decided which I like yet, so I'm trying both. Anywho, I actually quote heavily from Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone and most of the plot belongs to her, for the prologue anyway. I tip my hat off to her ::does so:: Also, my L/J fic is still in the front seat, I want to get a reaction to this first. Ten reviews, good reviews mind you, I don't want to get ten flames, and I'll put the next one. This'll only be one PoV, unlike my other. R/R, flames welcome.
Some Fic ideas:
- And I will always love you: Ron and Hermione finally realize their feelings, with a little push from Harry and Ginny. But suddenly, Harry goes missing, and it's up to Ron and Hermione to use their new found love to find him
- Just one more chance: ? any ideas?
- Four companion stories: Moony's Story (1), Wormtail's Story (2), Padfoot's Story (3), Prong's Story (4)
- I love to hate you: Lily hates James and he hates her back, but really they have deep down feelings for each other that surface in a very unexpected way…
- A world gone mad: Ron and Cho, Hermione and Lee, Draco and Ginny, McGonagall and Snape, Fred and George are like Percy, and Harry is the only one who remembers anything (it's really a plan made up by Voldemort to capture him)
- A disturbed childhood: Voldie's childhood in the Muggle orphanage. Each part is one year, told from his diary's PoV.
MY current L/J fic is not forgotten (for those who care) next part to be up later this weekend, I hope.