Sorry for the delay to this chapter, but I've got a new job, which means a very early start. Thank you though to the people who have reviewed this tale, i hope you like this chapter.
---------------------------------------------------
Hermione arrived at the Hospital in plenty of time the next day, and went straight to room 62. She knocked on the door, a nurse opened it.
'I'm Hermione, i was here yesterday', she looked past the nurse to see a girl sitting with Stewart.
Stewart saw her in the doorway, and guestured for Hermione to enter, this she did very nervously.
The girl looked up, and Hermione was astonished to see a near mirror image looking back at her.
'Lucy, this is my old school friend, Hermione Granger, I asked her to come and visit', Stewart croaked.
Lucy stepped over and shook Hermione's hand, 'Nice to meet you at last, Stewart has told me so much about you', she had a light Scouse accent.
Hermoine couldn't help but warm to her.
Lucy leaned down and kissed Stewart on the forehead, 'I'll see you tomorrow love', she looked up, 'nice to have met you Hermione'.
She walked out of the room, Stewart gazing at her.
Hermione sat down next to the bed, taking Stewarts hand.
'She is a lovely girl', she was still surprised at their similarities to each other, ' how long have you known her?'
Stewart turned to look at her, Hermione could see the glow of happiness in his face, 'We met on our first day at Junior School, been together ever since.
Hermione looked at him with tears in his eyes.
He reached up and touched her cheek, 'Don't cry Hermione'.
-----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, back at the Burrow, Harry was pacing about in the lounge. Ron was there, eating sweets.
Ron looked up at him, 'Harry, what's wrong?'
'I'm worried about her Ron, we've heard nothing for two days', Harry said.
Ron chuckled, 'It must be serious, you haven't talked about Hermione this much', Harry looked at him, 'I've seen the way you look at her, little stolen glances, blushing when she smiles at you, it must be love!"
He laughed teasingly, as Harry grabbed a cushion and preceded to thump him with it. Ron grabbed another cushion and they had a mock duel around the lounge.
After a while, they lay on the floor, laughing and trying to catch their breath.
'Seriously though Ron, I miss her and I 'm worried', Harry pushed his glasses back up his nose, 'when is your Dad back from work?'
Ron shrugged, 'Shouldn't be too long.'
A few minutes later, they heard the front door opening.
It was Mr Weasley.
'Molly, Kids, I'm home', he called.
Harry went out into the hall, 'Mr Weasley, can I ask you something in private please.'
Mr Weasley looked very surprised, but he opened the door to the study.
'Certainly Harry', he said.
They entered the study, Mr Weasley gestured to a chair. Harry sat in it, looking very nervous.
'What's the matter Harry?', Mr Weasley asked, 'Is it to do with Hermione?'
Harry nodded, 'I'm very worried about her and....', he blushed furiously
Mr Weasley looked at him sadly, 'You really care about her, don't you?'
Harry looked up, his face crumpled in thoughful repose, 'It's more than caring'.
Harry straightened up and looked Mr Weasley in the eye, ' I love her, more than anything in the world.'
Mr Weasley sat in his chair, listening to Harry, whose emotions were evident in his voice.
'Please take me to her', Harry pleaded, tears welling in his eyes, 'I want to be there for her'.
Mr Weasley got up from his chair, and walked over to the study door, 'Alright Harry, I'll take you, I'll go and tell Molly where we are going'.
He opened the door, paused and turned to face Harry.
'You need to understand why Hermione did what she did, read this letter', Mr Weasley handed Harry a crumpled, tear-stained envelope, then left, closing the door behind him.
------------------------------------
Hermione finished wiping the tears from her eyes, she smiled weakly, 'I'm sorry about that, whatever must you think of me?'
Stewart fixed her with a look that she recognised from another boy , 'I think that you are a lovely girl who cares about others far too much, a girl who should care about herself more.'
Hermione blushed for the umpteenth time that day.
Stewart noticed the blush and quickly decided to change the subject, ' So, where do you go to school now, Hermione?'
Hermione paused, she expected this question to rear it's head, she took a deep breath.
'I go to a private school called Hogwarts', she held her breath.
'What are you studying?', Stewart asked, looking interested.
'I'm studying to be a witch', Hermione said, trying to keep her face as deadpan as possible. She waited for the laugh and snort of derision from Stewart, but he lay there, looking thoughtful.
'Interesting', he said, 'tell me more.'
Hermione let out the breath she was holding. She smiled, feeling very relieved and relaxed, 'We have a wonderful headmaster by the name of Albus Dumbledore. I'm a member of Gryffindor House.......'
Stewart lay back and listened to her, he could see that she was happy, which made him happy.
'I've got two best friends at Hogwarts, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter', Hermione paused. Stewart saw her eyes light up when she said Harry's name. She pulled a photograph from her bag, it had herself, Ron and Harry waving at the camera, she passed it to Stewart, pointing Ron out to him first.
'Ron is mad on Quidditch, that is a game played on broomsticks, he eats too many sweets, he never does his homework , we argue all the time, but he is a very good friend', Hermione said.
Stewart raised his eyebrows, 'And Harry?'
Harry is the Seeker in the house Quidditch team, he is kind, sweet, funny, very handsome', she paused again, 'and I love him'.
Hermione stopped speaking, she was embarrassed at what she had just said, then she saw Stewart looking at her with a cheeky grin on his face. She blushed in indignation.
'Yes, I love Harry James Potter', she said in a defiant tone. She heard Stewart sniggering, she gave him one of her withering looks.
'What are you sniggering about?, she asked.
'Hermione Granger, I've never seen you like this before. Harry James Potter is a lucky person, I hope he feels the same way otherwise I'll come back to haunt him', he looked at her, his face set in a more serious fashion, 'I want to tell you something, something I should have told you at school.'
Hermione looked worried.
'No, no it's nothing horrible', Stewart said shaking his head, 'Don't you think its ironic that we should fall for people that look like us?, Hermione nodded, ' Now I could pass for Harry from a distance, and you could do the same for Lucy', he paused. swallowing before continuing.
'I had a massive crush on you at Junior School, Hermione', he said, gazing into her eyes, 'Ever since that day when you helped me out with my maths homework.'
Now it was Hermione's turn to snigger loudly, 'You, the most popular boy at school, had a crush on a toothy, frizzy haired bookworm?'
'Yes, I did', Stewart said, looking hurt.
'Well, I had a crush on you as well', Hermione said, and she started to laugh loudly.
She noticed that Stewart's eyes were closed, she picked up her bag, leant over to kiss him goodnight. She could sense that something was wrong, a long tone emitted from the heart monitor, he was flatlining.
'NO, NO, PLEASE, STEWART, NOOOO!', she screamed as the recussitation team ran in. A nurse took her out of the room, Hermione was hysterical.
'Hermione, Stewart will be fine, they'll do everything for him, the nurse tried to comfort her.
'PLEASE, DON'T LET HIM DIE, PLEASE!', Hermione was screaming, breaking free of the nurse. She ran down the corridor blindly, tears streaming down her face, only to run into something hard. a pair of arms wrapped round her waist.
'LET ME GO!', Hermione wailed, she started to hit the person's chest.
'Hermione, it's me, Harry, I won't leave you now', she melted into hysterical sobs at his voice, 'why didn't you tell me?'
'Miss Granger', it was the nurse, 'I'm sorry'.
'Stewart, NO, NO!', Hermione screamed and fainted into Harry's arms.
---------------------------------------------
At the Burrow, the next morning, Harry was lying next to Hermione. The Weasley's Doctor had visited and given Hermione a sleeping draft, but before she had drifted off to sleep, Hermione had asked Harry to stay with her.
Harry looked at the sleeping Hermione, she looked peaceful and beautiful, her chest rising and falling softly with her quiet breathing. He brushed a strand of hair from her face, which was pale from the lack of sleep. He saw her eyes moving beneath the lids, she was having a dream or nightmare, her delicate eyelashes fluttering.
He smiled, thinking about the various times that they had been together alone, he had never thought that he would be lying next to her, in love with this girl.
He felt Hermione thrash about, then she sat bolt upright, a look of fear on her face.
'HARRY!', She screamed, her breath coming in short gasps, sweat on her brow.
Harry wrapped his arms around her, 'It's ok, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere.
'Oh Harry, I've had a horrible nightmare!', she started crying, ' I was in Stewart's room, his heart monitor electrocuted him, there was lots of smoke, when the smoke cleared, you were in the bed, not moving.'
'But I'm not am I?', Harry said, pulliing Hermione closer to him, 'Why didn't you tell me, I had to put Mr Weasley to a lot of trouble to get him to tell me where you were.'
I'm sorry, Harry', Harry got up to go, 'Don't leave me!'
She looked at him with a pleading gaze, 'Stewart told me some things about myself that I had forgotten when I entered the Magical world. I told him everything, about Hogwarts, about me studying Witchcraft. I expected him to laugh at me, but he didn't. He understood everything, he even thought that you were the right person for me.'
Harry sat down on the bed next to her, 'Listen Hermione, we were all worried about you, especially me, these last few days have shown me how much I love you.'
Hermione looked up at Harry, her face breaking into a wide smile for the first time in days, ' You love me?'
Harry leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips, 'I've loved you for a long time.'
Hermione through her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him back, ' I love you Harry Potter.'
She drew away, 'I hoped this would happen to us,'
She moved closer for another kiss, when Ron burst in.
'Dinner time!', Ron shouted.
'We'll be down in a few minutes', Hermione and Harry chorused, as Ron left the room.
Hermione drew Harry closer again, 'Now where were we?', as she kissed him again.
---------------------------------------------------
Hermione arrived at the Hospital in plenty of time the next day, and went straight to room 62. She knocked on the door, a nurse opened it.
'I'm Hermione, i was here yesterday', she looked past the nurse to see a girl sitting with Stewart.
Stewart saw her in the doorway, and guestured for Hermione to enter, this she did very nervously.
The girl looked up, and Hermione was astonished to see a near mirror image looking back at her.
'Lucy, this is my old school friend, Hermione Granger, I asked her to come and visit', Stewart croaked.
Lucy stepped over and shook Hermione's hand, 'Nice to meet you at last, Stewart has told me so much about you', she had a light Scouse accent.
Hermoine couldn't help but warm to her.
Lucy leaned down and kissed Stewart on the forehead, 'I'll see you tomorrow love', she looked up, 'nice to have met you Hermione'.
She walked out of the room, Stewart gazing at her.
Hermione sat down next to the bed, taking Stewarts hand.
'She is a lovely girl', she was still surprised at their similarities to each other, ' how long have you known her?'
Stewart turned to look at her, Hermione could see the glow of happiness in his face, 'We met on our first day at Junior School, been together ever since.
Hermione looked at him with tears in his eyes.
He reached up and touched her cheek, 'Don't cry Hermione'.
-----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, back at the Burrow, Harry was pacing about in the lounge. Ron was there, eating sweets.
Ron looked up at him, 'Harry, what's wrong?'
'I'm worried about her Ron, we've heard nothing for two days', Harry said.
Ron chuckled, 'It must be serious, you haven't talked about Hermione this much', Harry looked at him, 'I've seen the way you look at her, little stolen glances, blushing when she smiles at you, it must be love!"
He laughed teasingly, as Harry grabbed a cushion and preceded to thump him with it. Ron grabbed another cushion and they had a mock duel around the lounge.
After a while, they lay on the floor, laughing and trying to catch their breath.
'Seriously though Ron, I miss her and I 'm worried', Harry pushed his glasses back up his nose, 'when is your Dad back from work?'
Ron shrugged, 'Shouldn't be too long.'
A few minutes later, they heard the front door opening.
It was Mr Weasley.
'Molly, Kids, I'm home', he called.
Harry went out into the hall, 'Mr Weasley, can I ask you something in private please.'
Mr Weasley looked very surprised, but he opened the door to the study.
'Certainly Harry', he said.
They entered the study, Mr Weasley gestured to a chair. Harry sat in it, looking very nervous.
'What's the matter Harry?', Mr Weasley asked, 'Is it to do with Hermione?'
Harry nodded, 'I'm very worried about her and....', he blushed furiously
Mr Weasley looked at him sadly, 'You really care about her, don't you?'
Harry looked up, his face crumpled in thoughful repose, 'It's more than caring'.
Harry straightened up and looked Mr Weasley in the eye, ' I love her, more than anything in the world.'
Mr Weasley sat in his chair, listening to Harry, whose emotions were evident in his voice.
'Please take me to her', Harry pleaded, tears welling in his eyes, 'I want to be there for her'.
Mr Weasley got up from his chair, and walked over to the study door, 'Alright Harry, I'll take you, I'll go and tell Molly where we are going'.
He opened the door, paused and turned to face Harry.
'You need to understand why Hermione did what she did, read this letter', Mr Weasley handed Harry a crumpled, tear-stained envelope, then left, closing the door behind him.
------------------------------------
Hermione finished wiping the tears from her eyes, she smiled weakly, 'I'm sorry about that, whatever must you think of me?'
Stewart fixed her with a look that she recognised from another boy , 'I think that you are a lovely girl who cares about others far too much, a girl who should care about herself more.'
Hermione blushed for the umpteenth time that day.
Stewart noticed the blush and quickly decided to change the subject, ' So, where do you go to school now, Hermione?'
Hermione paused, she expected this question to rear it's head, she took a deep breath.
'I go to a private school called Hogwarts', she held her breath.
'What are you studying?', Stewart asked, looking interested.
'I'm studying to be a witch', Hermione said, trying to keep her face as deadpan as possible. She waited for the laugh and snort of derision from Stewart, but he lay there, looking thoughtful.
'Interesting', he said, 'tell me more.'
Hermione let out the breath she was holding. She smiled, feeling very relieved and relaxed, 'We have a wonderful headmaster by the name of Albus Dumbledore. I'm a member of Gryffindor House.......'
Stewart lay back and listened to her, he could see that she was happy, which made him happy.
'I've got two best friends at Hogwarts, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter', Hermione paused. Stewart saw her eyes light up when she said Harry's name. She pulled a photograph from her bag, it had herself, Ron and Harry waving at the camera, she passed it to Stewart, pointing Ron out to him first.
'Ron is mad on Quidditch, that is a game played on broomsticks, he eats too many sweets, he never does his homework , we argue all the time, but he is a very good friend', Hermione said.
Stewart raised his eyebrows, 'And Harry?'
Harry is the Seeker in the house Quidditch team, he is kind, sweet, funny, very handsome', she paused again, 'and I love him'.
Hermione stopped speaking, she was embarrassed at what she had just said, then she saw Stewart looking at her with a cheeky grin on his face. She blushed in indignation.
'Yes, I love Harry James Potter', she said in a defiant tone. She heard Stewart sniggering, she gave him one of her withering looks.
'What are you sniggering about?, she asked.
'Hermione Granger, I've never seen you like this before. Harry James Potter is a lucky person, I hope he feels the same way otherwise I'll come back to haunt him', he looked at her, his face set in a more serious fashion, 'I want to tell you something, something I should have told you at school.'
Hermione looked worried.
'No, no it's nothing horrible', Stewart said shaking his head, 'Don't you think its ironic that we should fall for people that look like us?, Hermione nodded, ' Now I could pass for Harry from a distance, and you could do the same for Lucy', he paused. swallowing before continuing.
'I had a massive crush on you at Junior School, Hermione', he said, gazing into her eyes, 'Ever since that day when you helped me out with my maths homework.'
Now it was Hermione's turn to snigger loudly, 'You, the most popular boy at school, had a crush on a toothy, frizzy haired bookworm?'
'Yes, I did', Stewart said, looking hurt.
'Well, I had a crush on you as well', Hermione said, and she started to laugh loudly.
She noticed that Stewart's eyes were closed, she picked up her bag, leant over to kiss him goodnight. She could sense that something was wrong, a long tone emitted from the heart monitor, he was flatlining.
'NO, NO, PLEASE, STEWART, NOOOO!', she screamed as the recussitation team ran in. A nurse took her out of the room, Hermione was hysterical.
'Hermione, Stewart will be fine, they'll do everything for him, the nurse tried to comfort her.
'PLEASE, DON'T LET HIM DIE, PLEASE!', Hermione was screaming, breaking free of the nurse. She ran down the corridor blindly, tears streaming down her face, only to run into something hard. a pair of arms wrapped round her waist.
'LET ME GO!', Hermione wailed, she started to hit the person's chest.
'Hermione, it's me, Harry, I won't leave you now', she melted into hysterical sobs at his voice, 'why didn't you tell me?'
'Miss Granger', it was the nurse, 'I'm sorry'.
'Stewart, NO, NO!', Hermione screamed and fainted into Harry's arms.
---------------------------------------------
At the Burrow, the next morning, Harry was lying next to Hermione. The Weasley's Doctor had visited and given Hermione a sleeping draft, but before she had drifted off to sleep, Hermione had asked Harry to stay with her.
Harry looked at the sleeping Hermione, she looked peaceful and beautiful, her chest rising and falling softly with her quiet breathing. He brushed a strand of hair from her face, which was pale from the lack of sleep. He saw her eyes moving beneath the lids, she was having a dream or nightmare, her delicate eyelashes fluttering.
He smiled, thinking about the various times that they had been together alone, he had never thought that he would be lying next to her, in love with this girl.
He felt Hermione thrash about, then she sat bolt upright, a look of fear on her face.
'HARRY!', She screamed, her breath coming in short gasps, sweat on her brow.
Harry wrapped his arms around her, 'It's ok, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere.
'Oh Harry, I've had a horrible nightmare!', she started crying, ' I was in Stewart's room, his heart monitor electrocuted him, there was lots of smoke, when the smoke cleared, you were in the bed, not moving.'
'But I'm not am I?', Harry said, pulliing Hermione closer to him, 'Why didn't you tell me, I had to put Mr Weasley to a lot of trouble to get him to tell me where you were.'
I'm sorry, Harry', Harry got up to go, 'Don't leave me!'
She looked at him with a pleading gaze, 'Stewart told me some things about myself that I had forgotten when I entered the Magical world. I told him everything, about Hogwarts, about me studying Witchcraft. I expected him to laugh at me, but he didn't. He understood everything, he even thought that you were the right person for me.'
Harry sat down on the bed next to her, 'Listen Hermione, we were all worried about you, especially me, these last few days have shown me how much I love you.'
Hermione looked up at Harry, her face breaking into a wide smile for the first time in days, ' You love me?'
Harry leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips, 'I've loved you for a long time.'
Hermione through her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him back, ' I love you Harry Potter.'
She drew away, 'I hoped this would happen to us,'
She moved closer for another kiss, when Ron burst in.
'Dinner time!', Ron shouted.
'We'll be down in a few minutes', Hermione and Harry chorused, as Ron left the room.
Hermione drew Harry closer again, 'Now where were we?', as she kissed him again.