"Or did she really? Harry wondered. Hermione gave a disappointed gasp as Harry pulled away from her lips. Although Harry wanted their moment to continue, he needed to make sure.
"Why did you do that?" Harry asked. The question threw Hermione off guard. She realized that she wasn't sure she had an answer for him.
"I…I don't really know, Harry," she said as she slowly fell back from him onto her knees. "I wasn't even thinking, I just did what, I guess it was my heart, what my heart told me to do. I had no real reason, other than--" she broke off. The two sat still for a few moments before Harry broke in,
"'Mione, I need to know," Despite her kiss, Harry was afraid of her following response, "do you love me?"
"Oh, Harry," Hermione replied with a lilt in her voice, "ever since our first year at Hogwarts. Every time you spoke of Cho, Padma, Ginny, it killed me inside. I wanted to tell you, tried to tell you so many times over the last ten years. I was afraid that I would lose you entirely, however, if I let on my real feelings for you. So, eventually, especially when Ron and I began dating, I pushed those feelings away. I never thought there was any hope after that." Harry smiled and gently clasped her hand.
"Your words make me believe in hope again, Hermione," he said as he pulled her into his lap with her back pressed against his chest. She felt so wonderful in his arms, as though he were embracing something divine, an angel. He held her even closer as this warm thought flooded over him, as Hermione brushed her hands up and down his forearms. After a long while, a foreboding thought came to Hermione's mind.
"Harry, what are we going to say to Ron?" she asked nervously. Harry breathed a sigh so heavy it was as if a rock had just been pressed onto his stomach,
"Ron," was the word that emitted with the breath. After a quick inhale to find words of a solution, Harry finished, "I suppose we tell him the truth. I don't know how he's going to react. I don't want to hurt him, but I hope his reaction won't change your mind."
"Change my mind about what?" Hermione asked as she turned her head to the side to look at him
"Well, about tonight," Harry replied coyly, "I was hoping you and I could have our first date." She returned the sly grin that had crept onto Harry's face.
"No," she said, "he wouldn't keep me from being with you tonight. I don't want to see him hurt, but without sounding like a cliché, this was not planned by either of us." She had a point.
"I invited Ron to come to Quidditch practice tonight. I'll find some way to talk to him," Harry said.
"No, Harry," Hermione broke in as she stood from his lap. She faced him as she concluded, "I think it would be best if he heard it from me, if he understood why." Harry stood and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Are you sure that's how you want to handle it?" he asked quietly. Hermione sighed but nodded her head.
"This is something Ron needs to hear from me," she told him.
"All right, then." Harry pulled her into an embrace. The early morning dawn was beginning to peel through the blinds of Grimmauld Place. He knew she had better go home and get some rest before the enchanting evening he was already beginning to plan out in his head. She seemed to be reading his mind. As Hermione pulled her chest from his torso, she glanced up into Harry's eyes while still wrapped his arms.
"It's getting, heh, well early," she said with a laugh, "I don't want to, but I should run. I still have to map out this week's Charms lesson plan, and," she broke to heave a sigh," I need to think about how to handle this with Ron." Harry slowly shifted his weight from side to side, allowing her to rock to and fro in his rhythm. "This is going to be a really touchy subject, especially so very soon after we broke it off." Harry stopped and brought his hands to both of Hermione's cheeks and stroked them with the outside of his thumbs.
"You aren't sorry, are you?" he asked her. Hermione smiled and kissed him. Her hands curled around his waist and pressed him closer to her. After she pulled away, she told him
"Not if you are," Harry returned her smile.
"No," was the only word he could muster. She have him a quick kiss, and pulling herself from his arms, gave a small wave goodbye and apparated from the room. Harry felt completely elated, and certain that if the occasion had arose, he could have flown to across the Quidditch pitch without the aid of so much as a hair from a magic broom.
Well, Hermione was right of course. Ron was not at all too happy with the news of his friends sudden hookup.
"I don't believe it! You and Harry! After I came to that prat and spilled out my guts to him. I thought you guys were my best friends!" Ron shouted
"Ron, we are, it's just that--" Hermione tried to say, but Ron wouldn't listen.
"The two of you couldn't have held your hormones for even a day out of mere respect?! "he thundered back at her as his words echoed down the Hogwarts corridor.
"Ron, please," Hermione begged as she pulled him into the empty Charms classroom. She shut and locked the door behind them as Ron began to pace angrily around the room.
"Did you and Harry--" Ron began to say.
"No, Ron!" Hermione threw back, knowing full well he did not have to finish his sentence to convey what he had intended to imply. "No we didn't, Ron. It's not like that at all." Hermione took a deep breath. One of them had to remain rational. "Harry and I both love you very much, and we don't want to hurt you for anything; it's not like Harry and I set out to be together behind your back."
"How do I know that Hermione?" Now Ron had crossed the line. Hermione's anger began to flair at his accusation.
"Because you know us, Ron! You know us both…I would never….Harry wouldn't have done that to you. In fact, he never has!" she exclaimed. Ron gaped at her with a puzzled expression on his face.
"What exactly do you mean?" he asked. Then it hit him. "I knew it," he breathed solemnly. "I can't believe I have been the guy's best friend for all these years and could not put two and two together. Perhaps it was because I didn't want to." Ron felt as though massive doors of light had just shone on him, and the power of it was so forceful, that he had to sit down to maintain his composure. Hermione crossed to his side with a look of concern,
"Ron…Ron, are you all right?" she asked in worry. Yet Ron just continued,
"He has always been in love with you. I thought I had seen it once years ago when he was in the hospital with you." He folded his hands in front of him as he stared into the memory. "I could see it in his face. It was this desperate look of remorse and guilt. There was a hard tension mounted in his jaw line. It was then that…." Now he trailed off, not being able to finish his sentence. This whole thing just felt so surreal to him, but somehow there was a calmness of knowing the truth in this discovery. Hermione placed her hands on his.
"Ron, I can understand how hard this must be for you," Hermione began, "But Harry and I both decided that it was important for you to know. We thought it would only hurt you more to keep you in the dark. Somehow, I hope you can see one day that Harry and I are now have the opportunity to love each other, and….well, we've finally confessed that we do. That's another reason why I couldn't marry you. We both knew my heart belonged elsewhere." Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes. She could feel how much this was hurting him, and she hated to see him in such a state. "Despite that," she tried to finish, "it will never change the wonderful relationship that we had, and the one we still do. We were really very good for each other, a fine match, but we just weren't a--"
"Perfect fit," Ron finished for her with a sigh, "No, we were not. That's you and Harry. I know that Hermione. If you were meant for him, then maybe there is someone out there who is supposed to be mine."
"Of course there is, Ron!" Hermione emphasized, "and you and Harry and I are always going to be together. We're here for each other always because love just doesn't go away, no matter what other people say." Hermione's words honestly touched Ron's heart and his anger submerged. He clasped one of Hermione's hands and said as he smiled at her,
"I want you to be happy, Hermione, and if I can't have you," Ron took a deep breath before saying, "I'm glad it's Harry who can. I know he will. He's my best mate, and I know he's going to do everything he can to make you happy." Hermione found Ron's grown up mannerism very poignant to his character. She inwardly congratulated herself for being the constant motivator for that.
"You have a good heart, Ron, that is never to be disputed," Hermione said as she kissed him softly on the cheek. They paused for a moment as they held each other's eyes and then Hermione broke in, "My students will be here soon."
"Yeah," Ron said as he stood and began to leave. Hermione escorted Ron to the door, and when she opened it, students immediately began to flood in. After a few minutes of letting them pass, Ron started out the door. He glanced over his shoulder and gave a half-hearted crooked smile. "See you at dinner," he told her. As he began to walk away, Hermione stopped him.
"Ron..!" He turned with his red eyebrows raised to request what she wanted. Though she was considered the most well-versed witch to ever come to Hogwarts, Hermione was at a complete loss for words. She really didn't even know what made her call him back. So she just smiled and waved a small good-bye. Ron, however, found the words,
"Bye, 'Mione." Two words never penetrated Hermione so deeply before as she watched Ron disappear from the doorway and down the corridor. As the students filed into their desks, Hermione's eyes glistened and tears began to stream down her cheeks.
"Good bye, Ron," she whispered so that a fly could have barely heard her speak. She took a deep breath, and thought "Get a hold of yourself, Granger," as she wiped the tears away. Emitting a heavy sight, she turned back to her students and said, "Settle down now, please everyone." She walked to the front of the classroom and finished, "Let's begin; wands out and ready---"
Harry gave himself one last look over to make sure he appeared presentable. Everything had gone all right so far. He and Ron had the opportunity to speak in the pitch showers after practice. He remembered the relief he had felt when he found Ron was not completely infuriated with him for "stealing his girlfriend." Harry lingered on that word for a moment. "Girlfriend." Was Hermione his girlfriend now? "She will be after tonight," Harry tried to assure himself, "I hope." He attempted to force his matted hair into some form of decency one last time before he rang the doorbell. Somehow apparating into Hermione's apartment seemed too inappropriate for the occasion. Harry quickly brushed off the front of his pants and pulled down the cuffs of his shirt as he heard the sound of heels coming toward the door. He had just enough time to give his shoulders a good shake and clear his throat of some nervous tension before Hermione came to the door. What each saw took the other's breath away. Harry gaped at Hermione's simple, yet elegant strapless black dress with a small string of pearls encircling her neck. Her curls fell eloquently about her shoulders in smooth, sleek locks. Hermione was equally stunned by Harry's deep blue suit and crimson dress shirt, and to her delight, the rest managed to favor the same old Harry, which was her preference.
"I was hoping I hadn't overdressed," Hermione said not breaking her gaze from Harry's strapping figure.
"You look positively bewitching, Hermione," Harry told her, staring at the gorgeous woman before him. Hermione gave a small laugh and then urged,
"Come in, please, Harry." He shook his head with a grin.
"No need, get your things," Harry said slyly. With a small and curious smile, Hermione grabbed her handbag (just big enough for a wand), and joined Harry on the front stoop. As she shut and locked the door behind her, Hermione noticed something behind Harry's back. She didn't need to wait long to find out what it was.
"Oh, Harry, pink roses!" Hermione exclaimed, taking them from him. "They're my favorite? How'd you know?" Harry broke a stupid grin.
"You had one in your hair at the Hogwarts graduation commencement, and you were so upset that your witch's hat was crushing it." Hermione felt as though the back of her eyes were floating with flattery.
"You remember that, Harry?" she asked him. Harry began to blush.
"I remember everything about you. Still, I wasn't sure if they were right or not," Harry stammered, "But there are eight. One for every year I…" He broke off. The whole logic of the gift seemed so stupid now.
"Yes?" Hermione pressed him to finish. So, taking a hard swallow, Harry obliged,
"For every year I knew I loved you," he said, "and could never tell you." He avoided her eyes, but could see her focus shift from her roses to the awkward expression on his face.
"Kiss me, Harry," she told him sweetly, turning his face to her.
"Gladly," he replied and leaned his head tenderly for a soft kiss. They both savored the moment of each other's taste until Harry removed himself from the touch. He beamed broadly and grabbed his broom from where it was leaning on the wall. Being in the midst of a witch and wizard community, there was really no need to use an invisibility cloak to fly. He pulled Hermione tightly into his side, and whispered, "Hold on tight." Harry began guiding his broomstick upward. Hermione swiftly wrapped her arms around Harry as the two of them began to ride off into the cool night sky.
They soared high above the world until they flew from the outskirts of the town. The crisp wind blew against them, as Harry worked to balance Hermione in his left arm while using his right to steer his broom. She sat in front of him with her arms wrapped across his shoulders. They glided threw the clouds, reveling in the quiet serenity of each other's company. Harry inhaled the aroma of Hermione's perfume as it blew past his nose. His whole body began to tingle with anticipation and excitement. He wanted their first date to be something special for her. He hoped to show Hermione just how grand love had the potential to be. Hermione began to recognize the terrain of the green hills as those that left to Hogwarts. "Where are we going, Harry?" she asked, though she full well knew the answer. She could feel the chuckle in Harry's chest vibrate against her side. The strangely odd rumble was quite a turn on.
"Well, if I told you, it would spoil the surprise now wouldn't it?" he said, slightly toying with her.
"A surprise, eh? Surprises are good," she said with a laugh. "I'm quite fond of surprises."
"I was counting on it." The hills slowly unveiled a majestic castle what was the Witch and Wizarding school, now lit entirely by the beams which radiated from the moon on the reflection of the lake. It was quite a romantically breathtaking sight. Harry lowered the broom to a mound which held a gorgeously white gazebo that Hermione noted had been marvelously decorated with blue lights and hundred of red rose petals. Harry extended his hand to Hermione as she dismounted the broomstick, and Harry followed an ever so slight bow. When their eyes met again, they exchanged a fun laugh while he escorted her to the inside of the gazebo. Hermione's eyes widened in amazement at the eloquent table setting she saw.
"Oh, Harry," she vocalized through her astonished exhale, "it's just so beautiful." The small, circular table held the simplest kinds of food, but each and every one was among Hermione's favorites. Harry knew exactly what she liked to eat and just how it was to be prepared. He knew every last, intricate detail Hermione had ever revealed about herself. Somehow, he just never seemed to forget. The center piece was a golden candleabra wrapped among constricting vine of white roses. Harry smiled at Hermione's pleased response, and crossed to the table and pulled her chair out for her to sit. Yet Hermione hesitated for a moment, and Harry wondered whether he had fowled something up.
"Anything wrong?" Harry asked. Hermione lips curled into a sly, yet somehow seductive grin, and she walked closer to the chair.
"Before I sit, do you promise to always pull out the chair for me, no matter how old fashioned I become?" she asked him coyly.
"I'm hoping this night will be the beginning of always for us, Hermione," Harry said with a nervous laugh. "That sounded amazingly dumb, Harry" he thought to himself. "Sorry," he added, "that's quite a heavy statement for first date." Yet, Hermione merely exchanged the same friendly laugh, and took her seat. After took his place in front of her, Hermione automatically raised her glass of Cottonfeld Champagne in a toasting fashion and said,
"Here's to the beginning of always." Though slightly, yet happily, taken aback, Harry raised his glass to meet hers a small 'ping!'
"The beginning of always," he repeated, and they both sipped from the glass goblets threw upwardly curved lips. Dinner went off without a hitch. The two blissfully enjoyed the company each was keeping in great streams of laughter. At one point, Harry removed his right show and gently slid his toes up and down the inside of Hermione's nearly bare ankle. Hermione followed suit and removed her own shoe to start stroked Harry's socked foot. Though playing footsy under the dinner table had always just been a means of childish play for the two in the past, it now held a more desiring undertone. Since both were incredibly ticklish (one of the biggest reasons it was their favorite game), short and sweet chuckles emitted from their throats as they continued to eat. Finally, Hermione said,
"Honest, I don't think I could tuck in one more bite," and wiped her mouth delicately. Harry couldn't help but stare at those voluptuously fully, red lips, just daring them to kiss them.
"Why shouldn't I, then?" he thought. He moved the candleabra to the side, and reached across the table for Hermione's hand. He curved his fingers gently across her thumb along with his hand. Hermione admired how gentle and strong his hands felt in hers. She had a real thing for hands. Once eye contact was made, Harry slowly rose ever so gently as not to disturb the wonderful flow of the air between them. He leaned across the table tracking down those enchanting lips. Desiring Harry's contact just as earnestly, Hermione leaned in for him as well. Then the two were brought in a sweet, moist kiss. Hermione pushed Harry's lips open wider to slide her tongue into his mouth, and turned her head at just the perfect angle. "Merlin's beard, is she good at this!" Harry thought as the kiss made the heat in his collar create droplets of moisture on the back of his neck. He brought the hand that wasn't clenching hers to touch Hermione's face, and with a slight resistance on both parts, removed his lips from their previous embrace. As he opened his eyes, he smiled at the beauty that was before him. He stood from his chair, and still holding firm to Hermione's hand said, "Come on," and pulled her up from where she sat.
"Harry, what--" she began to speak, but Harry cut her off.
"Just come on, hurry." The two dashed hand in hand from the gazebo at a flagrant and light jog from the gazebo into the silvery moonlit night. They came to a field by the lake. The evening could not have been more captivating. As far as the eye could see, it almost seemed like the world had been trimmed into the romantic love which the laughing stars saw below them. As soon as Harry and Hermione reached the clearing, he flung her into his arms, and began laughing cheerfully as the two began to spin, covering even more ground as they did so. Suddenly, Hermione felt as though each step was becoming lighter and lighter, almost as if she were floating on air. Perhaps it was the euphoria she felt at being in Harry's presence, but still, it felt like more than that. She glanced down at her feet and with a gasp, stammered,
"H-H-Harry…..we're….."
"Dancing amongst the stars," he finished for her, "It's a charm I worked on all day to perfect. Do you like it?" Indeed they were several feet from the ground, waltzing threw the air without the aid of a broom or any other magical device. Though she had to admit, her first reaction had been mixed with a jolt of fright, being in Harry's arms and staring longingly threw those glasses and into his passively tormented eyes (a look he always seemed to wear), the tension in her subsided to a wave of comfort. She smiled and replied to his question,
"All that is missing now is the music." She slid away from his body just enough to gather herself into a decent ballroom dancing position. She couldn't help but feel like a fairy princess in the arms of her prince as they stroked the wind with their feet. Harry removed his wand from the inside of his jacket pocket, and with a slight flick of the wand and a tiny mumble of some magic words, music began to cascade threw the air.
"We're the only ones who can hear it," he assured Hermione, just in case she thought someone could somehow hear. They began to sway in the carrying breeze as if they were on the actual dance floor.
"I wonder how I ever made it through a day
How did I settle for a world in shades of gray
When you go in circles all the scenery looks the same
And you know why then I looked into your eyes
Where the world stretched out in front of me and I realized….
As the chorus of the song swelled, Harry pulled Hermione closer into him
I never lived before your love
I never felt before your touch
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive
But then again I wasn't really living
I never lived before your love.
A sharp twinge pierced Hermione's heart as she listened to the lyrics of the song. She asked Harry, "Is this how you always felt, Harry?" To her surprise when she looked up at him, she saw tear drops had fallen down his cheeks.
"Every moment of every day," he replied. Hermione could feel the tears begin to form in her eyes as well as eh threw herself onto Harry's neck to release them.
I wanted more than just an ordinary life
All of my dreams seemed like castles in the sky
I stand before you and my heart is in your hands
And I don't know how I survived without your kiss
'Cause you've given me a reason to exist.
"I was so empty before you came into my life, 'Mione," Harry whispered through his breaking voice from his tears, "I was a fool for not telling you sooner."
I never lived before your love
I never felt before your touch
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive
But then again I wasn't really living
I never lived before your love.
"I was the one who was foolish," Hermione said into his ear, "Foolish not to see what was right in front of me all along. I should have listened to my heart from the start. I feel like I wasted so much time, and caused you so much unnecessary pain."
"No, Hermione, no," Harry said pulling her head from hi shoulders so he could look her in the face, "don't you ever think that."
And I don't know why
Why the sun decides to shine
"I would not trade any of our moments together for anything in this world," he finished.
But you breathed your love into me just in time.
Harry began guiding her threw the dance of the song once again.
I never lived before your love
I never felt before your touch
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive
But then again, I wasn't really living….
Suddenly, the two of them stopped, Their eyes seemed so penetrated it almost seemed like they could gaze into each other's souls.
I never lived…
"I love you, Hermione," Harry said, thoroughly out of breath from the energy of both the spell and the dancing, not to
mention all of it through riding high emotional tears.
I never lived…
"I love you, Harry," Hermione replied.
Before…
"Now and always," Hermione finished.
Your…..
The two brought their lips to a heated meet as the last note rang ever passionately causing them to soar high above the world.
….Love!"
Never had either experienced a more ethereal and glorious moment of love.
It was nearly dawn before Harry had escorted Hermione home. They shared a loving goodnight kiss at the door, after which Hermione said, "I wish tonight would not end. I wish I could have stayed up in the air dancing across that lake with you."
"I don't need a lake to float on air. All I need is you just like this in my arms," Harry said with a smile. He gave her one more peck on the cheek before Hermione unlocked the door and stepped inside. "I will pick you up after work tomorrow then?" he asked as she began to close the door a little ways.
"No, I'll meet you back at your place, if that's all right," Hermione said, "I just have a few things after work I need to attend to." Harry nodded.
"Anything you want," and he leaned in through the doorway for one more kiss before adding "Good night, my…." he paused to search for the appropriate word, then decided on, "love." Hermione let our a girlish giggle, which she seemed instantly to be ashamed of exposing, so she closed the door as she blushed.
"Pleasant dreams," she said as Harry disappeared behind the door. Once it was locked she threw her back up against the panel and let out a mystical sigh of joy. "What….a….night…" she told herself. Then a thought crept into her head which made her laugh deep within. "My best friend has bewitched me. He's made me fall in love with him." Then she said aloud, "You really are a great wizard, Harry Potter."
"Why did you do that?" Harry asked. The question threw Hermione off guard. She realized that she wasn't sure she had an answer for him.
"I…I don't really know, Harry," she said as she slowly fell back from him onto her knees. "I wasn't even thinking, I just did what, I guess it was my heart, what my heart told me to do. I had no real reason, other than--" she broke off. The two sat still for a few moments before Harry broke in,
"'Mione, I need to know," Despite her kiss, Harry was afraid of her following response, "do you love me?"
"Oh, Harry," Hermione replied with a lilt in her voice, "ever since our first year at Hogwarts. Every time you spoke of Cho, Padma, Ginny, it killed me inside. I wanted to tell you, tried to tell you so many times over the last ten years. I was afraid that I would lose you entirely, however, if I let on my real feelings for you. So, eventually, especially when Ron and I began dating, I pushed those feelings away. I never thought there was any hope after that." Harry smiled and gently clasped her hand.
"Your words make me believe in hope again, Hermione," he said as he pulled her into his lap with her back pressed against his chest. She felt so wonderful in his arms, as though he were embracing something divine, an angel. He held her even closer as this warm thought flooded over him, as Hermione brushed her hands up and down his forearms. After a long while, a foreboding thought came to Hermione's mind.
"Harry, what are we going to say to Ron?" she asked nervously. Harry breathed a sigh so heavy it was as if a rock had just been pressed onto his stomach,
"Ron," was the word that emitted with the breath. After a quick inhale to find words of a solution, Harry finished, "I suppose we tell him the truth. I don't know how he's going to react. I don't want to hurt him, but I hope his reaction won't change your mind."
"Change my mind about what?" Hermione asked as she turned her head to the side to look at him
"Well, about tonight," Harry replied coyly, "I was hoping you and I could have our first date." She returned the sly grin that had crept onto Harry's face.
"No," she said, "he wouldn't keep me from being with you tonight. I don't want to see him hurt, but without sounding like a cliché, this was not planned by either of us." She had a point.
"I invited Ron to come to Quidditch practice tonight. I'll find some way to talk to him," Harry said.
"No, Harry," Hermione broke in as she stood from his lap. She faced him as she concluded, "I think it would be best if he heard it from me, if he understood why." Harry stood and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Are you sure that's how you want to handle it?" he asked quietly. Hermione sighed but nodded her head.
"This is something Ron needs to hear from me," she told him.
"All right, then." Harry pulled her into an embrace. The early morning dawn was beginning to peel through the blinds of Grimmauld Place. He knew she had better go home and get some rest before the enchanting evening he was already beginning to plan out in his head. She seemed to be reading his mind. As Hermione pulled her chest from his torso, she glanced up into Harry's eyes while still wrapped his arms.
"It's getting, heh, well early," she said with a laugh, "I don't want to, but I should run. I still have to map out this week's Charms lesson plan, and," she broke to heave a sigh," I need to think about how to handle this with Ron." Harry slowly shifted his weight from side to side, allowing her to rock to and fro in his rhythm. "This is going to be a really touchy subject, especially so very soon after we broke it off." Harry stopped and brought his hands to both of Hermione's cheeks and stroked them with the outside of his thumbs.
"You aren't sorry, are you?" he asked her. Hermione smiled and kissed him. Her hands curled around his waist and pressed him closer to her. After she pulled away, she told him
"Not if you are," Harry returned her smile.
"No," was the only word he could muster. She have him a quick kiss, and pulling herself from his arms, gave a small wave goodbye and apparated from the room. Harry felt completely elated, and certain that if the occasion had arose, he could have flown to across the Quidditch pitch without the aid of so much as a hair from a magic broom.
Well, Hermione was right of course. Ron was not at all too happy with the news of his friends sudden hookup.
"I don't believe it! You and Harry! After I came to that prat and spilled out my guts to him. I thought you guys were my best friends!" Ron shouted
"Ron, we are, it's just that--" Hermione tried to say, but Ron wouldn't listen.
"The two of you couldn't have held your hormones for even a day out of mere respect?! "he thundered back at her as his words echoed down the Hogwarts corridor.
"Ron, please," Hermione begged as she pulled him into the empty Charms classroom. She shut and locked the door behind them as Ron began to pace angrily around the room.
"Did you and Harry--" Ron began to say.
"No, Ron!" Hermione threw back, knowing full well he did not have to finish his sentence to convey what he had intended to imply. "No we didn't, Ron. It's not like that at all." Hermione took a deep breath. One of them had to remain rational. "Harry and I both love you very much, and we don't want to hurt you for anything; it's not like Harry and I set out to be together behind your back."
"How do I know that Hermione?" Now Ron had crossed the line. Hermione's anger began to flair at his accusation.
"Because you know us, Ron! You know us both…I would never….Harry wouldn't have done that to you. In fact, he never has!" she exclaimed. Ron gaped at her with a puzzled expression on his face.
"What exactly do you mean?" he asked. Then it hit him. "I knew it," he breathed solemnly. "I can't believe I have been the guy's best friend for all these years and could not put two and two together. Perhaps it was because I didn't want to." Ron felt as though massive doors of light had just shone on him, and the power of it was so forceful, that he had to sit down to maintain his composure. Hermione crossed to his side with a look of concern,
"Ron…Ron, are you all right?" she asked in worry. Yet Ron just continued,
"He has always been in love with you. I thought I had seen it once years ago when he was in the hospital with you." He folded his hands in front of him as he stared into the memory. "I could see it in his face. It was this desperate look of remorse and guilt. There was a hard tension mounted in his jaw line. It was then that…." Now he trailed off, not being able to finish his sentence. This whole thing just felt so surreal to him, but somehow there was a calmness of knowing the truth in this discovery. Hermione placed her hands on his.
"Ron, I can understand how hard this must be for you," Hermione began, "But Harry and I both decided that it was important for you to know. We thought it would only hurt you more to keep you in the dark. Somehow, I hope you can see one day that Harry and I are now have the opportunity to love each other, and….well, we've finally confessed that we do. That's another reason why I couldn't marry you. We both knew my heart belonged elsewhere." Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes. She could feel how much this was hurting him, and she hated to see him in such a state. "Despite that," she tried to finish, "it will never change the wonderful relationship that we had, and the one we still do. We were really very good for each other, a fine match, but we just weren't a--"
"Perfect fit," Ron finished for her with a sigh, "No, we were not. That's you and Harry. I know that Hermione. If you were meant for him, then maybe there is someone out there who is supposed to be mine."
"Of course there is, Ron!" Hermione emphasized, "and you and Harry and I are always going to be together. We're here for each other always because love just doesn't go away, no matter what other people say." Hermione's words honestly touched Ron's heart and his anger submerged. He clasped one of Hermione's hands and said as he smiled at her,
"I want you to be happy, Hermione, and if I can't have you," Ron took a deep breath before saying, "I'm glad it's Harry who can. I know he will. He's my best mate, and I know he's going to do everything he can to make you happy." Hermione found Ron's grown up mannerism very poignant to his character. She inwardly congratulated herself for being the constant motivator for that.
"You have a good heart, Ron, that is never to be disputed," Hermione said as she kissed him softly on the cheek. They paused for a moment as they held each other's eyes and then Hermione broke in, "My students will be here soon."
"Yeah," Ron said as he stood and began to leave. Hermione escorted Ron to the door, and when she opened it, students immediately began to flood in. After a few minutes of letting them pass, Ron started out the door. He glanced over his shoulder and gave a half-hearted crooked smile. "See you at dinner," he told her. As he began to walk away, Hermione stopped him.
"Ron..!" He turned with his red eyebrows raised to request what she wanted. Though she was considered the most well-versed witch to ever come to Hogwarts, Hermione was at a complete loss for words. She really didn't even know what made her call him back. So she just smiled and waved a small good-bye. Ron, however, found the words,
"Bye, 'Mione." Two words never penetrated Hermione so deeply before as she watched Ron disappear from the doorway and down the corridor. As the students filed into their desks, Hermione's eyes glistened and tears began to stream down her cheeks.
"Good bye, Ron," she whispered so that a fly could have barely heard her speak. She took a deep breath, and thought "Get a hold of yourself, Granger," as she wiped the tears away. Emitting a heavy sight, she turned back to her students and said, "Settle down now, please everyone." She walked to the front of the classroom and finished, "Let's begin; wands out and ready---"
Harry gave himself one last look over to make sure he appeared presentable. Everything had gone all right so far. He and Ron had the opportunity to speak in the pitch showers after practice. He remembered the relief he had felt when he found Ron was not completely infuriated with him for "stealing his girlfriend." Harry lingered on that word for a moment. "Girlfriend." Was Hermione his girlfriend now? "She will be after tonight," Harry tried to assure himself, "I hope." He attempted to force his matted hair into some form of decency one last time before he rang the doorbell. Somehow apparating into Hermione's apartment seemed too inappropriate for the occasion. Harry quickly brushed off the front of his pants and pulled down the cuffs of his shirt as he heard the sound of heels coming toward the door. He had just enough time to give his shoulders a good shake and clear his throat of some nervous tension before Hermione came to the door. What each saw took the other's breath away. Harry gaped at Hermione's simple, yet elegant strapless black dress with a small string of pearls encircling her neck. Her curls fell eloquently about her shoulders in smooth, sleek locks. Hermione was equally stunned by Harry's deep blue suit and crimson dress shirt, and to her delight, the rest managed to favor the same old Harry, which was her preference.
"I was hoping I hadn't overdressed," Hermione said not breaking her gaze from Harry's strapping figure.
"You look positively bewitching, Hermione," Harry told her, staring at the gorgeous woman before him. Hermione gave a small laugh and then urged,
"Come in, please, Harry." He shook his head with a grin.
"No need, get your things," Harry said slyly. With a small and curious smile, Hermione grabbed her handbag (just big enough for a wand), and joined Harry on the front stoop. As she shut and locked the door behind her, Hermione noticed something behind Harry's back. She didn't need to wait long to find out what it was.
"Oh, Harry, pink roses!" Hermione exclaimed, taking them from him. "They're my favorite? How'd you know?" Harry broke a stupid grin.
"You had one in your hair at the Hogwarts graduation commencement, and you were so upset that your witch's hat was crushing it." Hermione felt as though the back of her eyes were floating with flattery.
"You remember that, Harry?" she asked him. Harry began to blush.
"I remember everything about you. Still, I wasn't sure if they were right or not," Harry stammered, "But there are eight. One for every year I…" He broke off. The whole logic of the gift seemed so stupid now.
"Yes?" Hermione pressed him to finish. So, taking a hard swallow, Harry obliged,
"For every year I knew I loved you," he said, "and could never tell you." He avoided her eyes, but could see her focus shift from her roses to the awkward expression on his face.
"Kiss me, Harry," she told him sweetly, turning his face to her.
"Gladly," he replied and leaned his head tenderly for a soft kiss. They both savored the moment of each other's taste until Harry removed himself from the touch. He beamed broadly and grabbed his broom from where it was leaning on the wall. Being in the midst of a witch and wizard community, there was really no need to use an invisibility cloak to fly. He pulled Hermione tightly into his side, and whispered, "Hold on tight." Harry began guiding his broomstick upward. Hermione swiftly wrapped her arms around Harry as the two of them began to ride off into the cool night sky.
They soared high above the world until they flew from the outskirts of the town. The crisp wind blew against them, as Harry worked to balance Hermione in his left arm while using his right to steer his broom. She sat in front of him with her arms wrapped across his shoulders. They glided threw the clouds, reveling in the quiet serenity of each other's company. Harry inhaled the aroma of Hermione's perfume as it blew past his nose. His whole body began to tingle with anticipation and excitement. He wanted their first date to be something special for her. He hoped to show Hermione just how grand love had the potential to be. Hermione began to recognize the terrain of the green hills as those that left to Hogwarts. "Where are we going, Harry?" she asked, though she full well knew the answer. She could feel the chuckle in Harry's chest vibrate against her side. The strangely odd rumble was quite a turn on.
"Well, if I told you, it would spoil the surprise now wouldn't it?" he said, slightly toying with her.
"A surprise, eh? Surprises are good," she said with a laugh. "I'm quite fond of surprises."
"I was counting on it." The hills slowly unveiled a majestic castle what was the Witch and Wizarding school, now lit entirely by the beams which radiated from the moon on the reflection of the lake. It was quite a romantically breathtaking sight. Harry lowered the broom to a mound which held a gorgeously white gazebo that Hermione noted had been marvelously decorated with blue lights and hundred of red rose petals. Harry extended his hand to Hermione as she dismounted the broomstick, and Harry followed an ever so slight bow. When their eyes met again, they exchanged a fun laugh while he escorted her to the inside of the gazebo. Hermione's eyes widened in amazement at the eloquent table setting she saw.
"Oh, Harry," she vocalized through her astonished exhale, "it's just so beautiful." The small, circular table held the simplest kinds of food, but each and every one was among Hermione's favorites. Harry knew exactly what she liked to eat and just how it was to be prepared. He knew every last, intricate detail Hermione had ever revealed about herself. Somehow, he just never seemed to forget. The center piece was a golden candleabra wrapped among constricting vine of white roses. Harry smiled at Hermione's pleased response, and crossed to the table and pulled her chair out for her to sit. Yet Hermione hesitated for a moment, and Harry wondered whether he had fowled something up.
"Anything wrong?" Harry asked. Hermione lips curled into a sly, yet somehow seductive grin, and she walked closer to the chair.
"Before I sit, do you promise to always pull out the chair for me, no matter how old fashioned I become?" she asked him coyly.
"I'm hoping this night will be the beginning of always for us, Hermione," Harry said with a nervous laugh. "That sounded amazingly dumb, Harry" he thought to himself. "Sorry," he added, "that's quite a heavy statement for first date." Yet, Hermione merely exchanged the same friendly laugh, and took her seat. After took his place in front of her, Hermione automatically raised her glass of Cottonfeld Champagne in a toasting fashion and said,
"Here's to the beginning of always." Though slightly, yet happily, taken aback, Harry raised his glass to meet hers a small 'ping!'
"The beginning of always," he repeated, and they both sipped from the glass goblets threw upwardly curved lips. Dinner went off without a hitch. The two blissfully enjoyed the company each was keeping in great streams of laughter. At one point, Harry removed his right show and gently slid his toes up and down the inside of Hermione's nearly bare ankle. Hermione followed suit and removed her own shoe to start stroked Harry's socked foot. Though playing footsy under the dinner table had always just been a means of childish play for the two in the past, it now held a more desiring undertone. Since both were incredibly ticklish (one of the biggest reasons it was their favorite game), short and sweet chuckles emitted from their throats as they continued to eat. Finally, Hermione said,
"Honest, I don't think I could tuck in one more bite," and wiped her mouth delicately. Harry couldn't help but stare at those voluptuously fully, red lips, just daring them to kiss them.
"Why shouldn't I, then?" he thought. He moved the candleabra to the side, and reached across the table for Hermione's hand. He curved his fingers gently across her thumb along with his hand. Hermione admired how gentle and strong his hands felt in hers. She had a real thing for hands. Once eye contact was made, Harry slowly rose ever so gently as not to disturb the wonderful flow of the air between them. He leaned across the table tracking down those enchanting lips. Desiring Harry's contact just as earnestly, Hermione leaned in for him as well. Then the two were brought in a sweet, moist kiss. Hermione pushed Harry's lips open wider to slide her tongue into his mouth, and turned her head at just the perfect angle. "Merlin's beard, is she good at this!" Harry thought as the kiss made the heat in his collar create droplets of moisture on the back of his neck. He brought the hand that wasn't clenching hers to touch Hermione's face, and with a slight resistance on both parts, removed his lips from their previous embrace. As he opened his eyes, he smiled at the beauty that was before him. He stood from his chair, and still holding firm to Hermione's hand said, "Come on," and pulled her up from where she sat.
"Harry, what--" she began to speak, but Harry cut her off.
"Just come on, hurry." The two dashed hand in hand from the gazebo at a flagrant and light jog from the gazebo into the silvery moonlit night. They came to a field by the lake. The evening could not have been more captivating. As far as the eye could see, it almost seemed like the world had been trimmed into the romantic love which the laughing stars saw below them. As soon as Harry and Hermione reached the clearing, he flung her into his arms, and began laughing cheerfully as the two began to spin, covering even more ground as they did so. Suddenly, Hermione felt as though each step was becoming lighter and lighter, almost as if she were floating on air. Perhaps it was the euphoria she felt at being in Harry's presence, but still, it felt like more than that. She glanced down at her feet and with a gasp, stammered,
"H-H-Harry…..we're….."
"Dancing amongst the stars," he finished for her, "It's a charm I worked on all day to perfect. Do you like it?" Indeed they were several feet from the ground, waltzing threw the air without the aid of a broom or any other magical device. Though she had to admit, her first reaction had been mixed with a jolt of fright, being in Harry's arms and staring longingly threw those glasses and into his passively tormented eyes (a look he always seemed to wear), the tension in her subsided to a wave of comfort. She smiled and replied to his question,
"All that is missing now is the music." She slid away from his body just enough to gather herself into a decent ballroom dancing position. She couldn't help but feel like a fairy princess in the arms of her prince as they stroked the wind with their feet. Harry removed his wand from the inside of his jacket pocket, and with a slight flick of the wand and a tiny mumble of some magic words, music began to cascade threw the air.
"We're the only ones who can hear it," he assured Hermione, just in case she thought someone could somehow hear. They began to sway in the carrying breeze as if they were on the actual dance floor.
"I wonder how I ever made it through a day
How did I settle for a world in shades of gray
When you go in circles all the scenery looks the same
And you know why then I looked into your eyes
Where the world stretched out in front of me and I realized….
As the chorus of the song swelled, Harry pulled Hermione closer into him
I never lived before your love
I never felt before your touch
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive
But then again I wasn't really living
I never lived before your love.
A sharp twinge pierced Hermione's heart as she listened to the lyrics of the song. She asked Harry, "Is this how you always felt, Harry?" To her surprise when she looked up at him, she saw tear drops had fallen down his cheeks.
"Every moment of every day," he replied. Hermione could feel the tears begin to form in her eyes as well as eh threw herself onto Harry's neck to release them.
I wanted more than just an ordinary life
All of my dreams seemed like castles in the sky
I stand before you and my heart is in your hands
And I don't know how I survived without your kiss
'Cause you've given me a reason to exist.
"I was so empty before you came into my life, 'Mione," Harry whispered through his breaking voice from his tears, "I was a fool for not telling you sooner."
I never lived before your love
I never felt before your touch
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive
But then again I wasn't really living
I never lived before your love.
"I was the one who was foolish," Hermione said into his ear, "Foolish not to see what was right in front of me all along. I should have listened to my heart from the start. I feel like I wasted so much time, and caused you so much unnecessary pain."
"No, Hermione, no," Harry said pulling her head from hi shoulders so he could look her in the face, "don't you ever think that."
And I don't know why
Why the sun decides to shine
"I would not trade any of our moments together for anything in this world," he finished.
But you breathed your love into me just in time.
Harry began guiding her threw the dance of the song once again.
I never lived before your love
I never felt before your touch
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive
But then again, I wasn't really living….
Suddenly, the two of them stopped, Their eyes seemed so penetrated it almost seemed like they could gaze into each other's souls.
I never lived…
"I love you, Hermione," Harry said, thoroughly out of breath from the energy of both the spell and the dancing, not to
mention all of it through riding high emotional tears.
I never lived…
"I love you, Harry," Hermione replied.
Before…
"Now and always," Hermione finished.
Your…..
The two brought their lips to a heated meet as the last note rang ever passionately causing them to soar high above the world.
….Love!"
Never had either experienced a more ethereal and glorious moment of love.
It was nearly dawn before Harry had escorted Hermione home. They shared a loving goodnight kiss at the door, after which Hermione said, "I wish tonight would not end. I wish I could have stayed up in the air dancing across that lake with you."
"I don't need a lake to float on air. All I need is you just like this in my arms," Harry said with a smile. He gave her one more peck on the cheek before Hermione unlocked the door and stepped inside. "I will pick you up after work tomorrow then?" he asked as she began to close the door a little ways.
"No, I'll meet you back at your place, if that's all right," Hermione said, "I just have a few things after work I need to attend to." Harry nodded.
"Anything you want," and he leaned in through the doorway for one more kiss before adding "Good night, my…." he paused to search for the appropriate word, then decided on, "love." Hermione let our a girlish giggle, which she seemed instantly to be ashamed of exposing, so she closed the door as she blushed.
"Pleasant dreams," she said as Harry disappeared behind the door. Once it was locked she threw her back up against the panel and let out a mystical sigh of joy. "What….a….night…" she told herself. Then a thought crept into her head which made her laugh deep within. "My best friend has bewitched me. He's made me fall in love with him." Then she said aloud, "You really are a great wizard, Harry Potter."