Why couldn't she seem to get her breath?  Her sprint across the park hadn't been that far.  And the queue for the Ferris wheel was quite long as it turned out, so they'd been standing there for a while now.  Long enough for Harry to polish off the remainder of her cotton candy and dazzle her with several more deliciously sweet kisses which resulted in much throat-clearing and foot shuffling from the surrounding Muggles.  Hermione's lips curved upward ever so slightly and unconsciously, she raised her fingertips to touch them.

"Stop that."  Hermione shivered at the feel of Harry's warm breath against her ear.  He was standing behind her, his arms clasped around her middle.

She twisted around so she could see his face.  He was frowning at her in mock sternness.  "I mean it, Miss Granger.  Knock that off immediately or suffer the consequences."

"Knock what off?"

Harry quit frowning and grinned at her.  "That thing you do with your mouth.  That little half-smile, where your eyes go all mysterious.  Makes me want to do unspeakable things to you."  He jerked his head in the direction of a red-faced middle aged man holding onto three squirming children of various ages.  "I don't want to be responsible for giving someone a heart attack."  He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Hermione released the breath she had been holding and let out what she very much feared was a giggle.  What else could she do?  The gorgeous young man in front of her was still her friend Harry.  He always made her laugh.  She decided to play, too.

She casually moved closer, bringing her breasts in contact with his chest.  She fluttered her eyelashes and looked up at him, her brown eyes wide and innocent.  "If I don't, will you punish me?"

And then she nearly burst out in a fresh fit of giggles after seeing the look on Harry's face.  The word gobsmacked came to mind.  It was priceless.

"I  . . . I . . ." 

The queue was starting to move.  She put on her bossiest voice, pure vintage Hermione.  "Never mind.  Come along, now."  She grabbed a handful of his shirt and began towing him towards the ride entrance.

Harry followed obediently, still apparently speechless.  Once they were secured in their car and the attendant went on to load the next lot of passengers, Harry turned to her.  "Where did you . . . I mean, what was . . ."  He tried again.  "How do you do stuff like that?"

This time, Hermione took one look at his face and dissolved into laughter.  It went on for so long that Harry began to get irritated.  "What's so funny?  I suppose you think it's bloody entertaining to try out your . . . your . . . feminine wiles on me?  I about passed out back there."

Pulling herself together, Hermione wiped her eyes and regarded Harry with amusement.  "My feminine wiles?  Before today, I didn't think you'd noticed I had any."

"You can't be serious?"  Harry was looking at her like she was crazy.  "How could I not notice?  Me and every other male with a pulse at Hogwarts.  And I wouldn't be surprised if there were some without pulses who noticed as well."  He blushed slightly and looked away.

It was Hermione's turn to be speechless, which was rather remarkable for her.  For once, she seemed unable to formulate a sentence.  She wasn't sure what she'd expected him to say, but it certainly wasn't that.  This was all a bit surreal for her.  Missing the train, running round an amusement park like a little kid, kissing her best friend in a way that was decidedly un-kidlike.  Today seemed to be a moment outside of time, a case of blissful temporary insanity.  She certainly assumed that's what it was on Harry's part, anyway.  She never expected to hear him say that it wasn't.  She had been positive (and Hermione was often and authoritatively positive) that whatever attraction she felt for him was always one-sided.  What was he saying?

Harry had his head down now and was speaking so softly she had to lean towards him to hear.  "I've wanted you for so long, I almost can't remember a time when I didn't.  There were a million times I wanted to just grab you and tell you, show you how I felt."  Slowly, he raised his eyes to hers, as if almost fearful of what he would find there.

Hermione found her voice again.  "So why didn't you Harry?  How long were you going to keep this to yourself?"  There were so many things going on inside her, Hermione didn't know what she felt.  Shock, elation, apprehension, and yes . . . there it was, anger.  "How could you not tell me?"

Exasperated, Harry ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more wildly.  "How could I tell you?  Every time I turned around you were on the arm of some absolute git.  And let's not forget about Ron.  There was no way I could do anything, knowing how he felt about you.  Mates just don't do that to each other."

"I seem to recall a time or two when you had the opportunity to speak."  Hermione said this quietly.  She thought of the many times she'd cried on his shoulder.  The walks by the lake when (she thought) they'd poured out their hearts to each other.  That's what friends did, didn't they?  "I trusted you Harry.  I confided in you.  And Ron and I broke up ages ago.  Don't use him as an excuse."  As more passengers were boarded, their car swung higher and higher into the air.  She gazed out into the distance.  "Don't lie to me that way."

"I was afraid, all right?!"  The words burst from Harry's mouth almost involuntarily.  Bracing his elbows on his thighs, he leaned forward, cradling his head in his hands.  "I've never felt with anyone the way I feel about you.  I couldn't . . . " He stopped and took a breath.  "I couldn't lose you.  I've lost enough, I think."

Hermione felt a stab of empathy.  His parents, Cedric.  Harry had been through loss, all right.  But, still.  "You were afraid?  You?  You think nothing of dashing off into the Forbidden Forrest to fight Death Eaters and the like or of making a 50 foot dive at a hundred miles an hour so you can catch the snitch and beat Slytherin.  But giving a friend your honesty – that scares you?"

Hermione was leaning forward in her seat now, gripping the safety bar in agitation.  "Found it easier to just pick and choose from amongst those empty-headed females in your fan club, did you?  And if I ever started to get too close to someone you didn't approve of you could just take him out back and show him the old scar to send him packing, is that it?  That's right, I knew about that!  I was just stupid enough to think you did it out of concern for me.  Now I know it's because you just didn't want to see me with anyone else, even though you were too cowardly to make a move yourself."

She fell silent for a moment as if regretting the harshness of her words.  When she spoke again, her voice shook.  "D'you know . . . d' you know how many nights I lay awake wondering what was wrong with me?"  She shook her head impatiently, knowing Harry was about to apologize for threatening her would be suitors.  "No, not because of that.  Because . . . because I couldn't figure out why you didn't want me.  Why I could get other boys to look at me, but I could never seem to make you see me."  To her great disgust, she felt tears rising, and angrily, she dashed them away.  "You knew.  You knew how lonely I was, even with you and Ron.  How much I wanted someone.  How could you leave me alone like that when I needed you so much?"  Her eyes shone with tears, but she defiantly refused to let them fall.

Far below them, the attendant completed boarding and switched on the ride.  They sailed lazily through the air.  Wordlessly, Harry slid across the seat and gathered her in his arms.  Instead of pulling away as he had feared she might, she seemed to melt into him.  Nestling her head beneath his chin (he marveled at how perfectly she fit there), he felt her give a long, shuddery sigh.  "I'm sorry . . . I'm sorry . . ." he murmured, burying his nose in her hair.  "Can you forgive me for being such an ass?"

He felt her lips curve against his neck.  "Well . . . you really were an ass, you know."

Harry assumed a contrite expression.  "You're absolutely right.  I was a complete . . ."

"Idiot?  Moron?  Imbecile?"

"All of the above.  Let me make it up to you?"

Hermione sniffed.  "I suppose you could try."

Harry broke into one of his ear to ear grins.  (Damn, he was beautiful.)  He reached out to touch her face and then stopped.

"What?  What is it?"  Hermione was puzzled.

He held up his hands somewhat sheepishly.  "Sticky.  Too much cotton candy, I guess."

Not taking her eyes from his, Hermione grabbed his hand.  He could swear the look she gave him was positively naughty.  Slowly and deliberately, she took each of his fingers into her mouth and licked them clean.

Harry's eyes were closed and there was an almost pained expression on his face.  He seemed to be having difficulty breathing.  "Hermione . . ." he groaned.

"Yes?"

He opened his eyes and grinned at her.  "I take back any protest.  Feel free to practice your feminine wiles on me any day."