Author's Note: I'm soooooo sorry that its taken me so long to get this
chapter up. I just got back from Hawaii- I had a blast!- but I didn't have
time to write much, and even if I could have we had no Internet access. But
here it is, finally. The next chapter will be the last one, and it'll be
very short- I may even finish and post it today. Thanks to everyone who's
reviewed! I'm happy to report that I have bought the Mrs. Field's Cookies
chain, and I plan to continue buying cookie chains until I own all the
world's cookies.
Chapter Five
The Date
"What do you think?" Hermione asked, holding up two dresses. "The black one or the red one?"
"Definitely the red one," Ginny said. "The black one looks so . . . old."
"But the red one is too-" Hermione cut herself off.
"Sexy?" Ginny finished for her. Hermione scowled and threw a box of tissues at her. Ginny caught it, laughing. Then she began to sneeze and found the tissues quite useful.
"Seriously, Hermione," Ginny said, after blowing her nose, "it's time you stopped wearing all those ugly clothes."
"Thanks, Ginny."
"You're welcome. Come on, Hermione, we're not going to be young forever. Flaunt it."
"I don't want Harry to think I'm trying to seduce him or something."
"He won't. But even if he does, is that really such a bad thing?"
Hermione laughed in spite of herself and turned to the mirror. She held both dresses up to herself and surveyed them. Then, somewhat reluctantly, she walked out of the bathroom and went to hang up the black dress.
Seamus was sitting on her bed, playing GameBoy. "Hey, Monie," Seamus said without looking up at her. "Is Ginny being evil?"
"No more so than usual," Hermione said, hanging the dress up. From the bathroom Ginny called, "I heard that!"
A soft knock on the door brought their conversation to a halt. Hermione rushed back to the bathroom and cried to Ginny, "It's him!"
"Of course it's him," Ginny said, irritating Hermione with her broad grin.
"But he's early!"
"Better early than late. Go on and get changed. Seamus and I will keep him occupied."
"Be nice."
Ginny left, and Hermione hastily shut the door behind her. She started changing into the red dress and listened as Ginny opened the door and greeted Harry. Hermione tried to zip up the zipper on the dress but she couldn't quite make it go up all the way. 'Crap,' she thought, trying to make it zip up for a third time. At last she gave up and decided to discreetly ask Ginny to zip it before they left.
When Hermione was finally ready, she glanced over herself one last time in the mirror. She heard the others laughing and she looked apprehensively at the door. Hermione pinched her cheeks to give them a little more color, let out a deep breath and opened the door.
Harry, Ginny and Seamus were standing around in a little circle. They all looked at Hermione as she came out of the bathroom.
"Hermione," Harry said, looking slightly flustered, "you look beautiful."
Hermione's face turned red. "Thanks," she said softly. "You look nice, too." And he did. Hermione noticed that Harry had tried to tame his wild hair a bit, and he wore a clean work shirt and dark pants. She looked at his handsome face and smiled shyly.
As they were taking their jackets from Hermione's coat rack, Hermione turned to Ginny and asked in a whisper, "Hey, would you mind zipping up the back of my dress?"
Ginny, seeing that Harry was standing behind Hermione, called over to him, "Hey, Harry, would you zip up Hermione's dress for her?"
Hermione blushed, giving Ginny an angry look, but she blushed even more when Harry replied, "Sure." The touch of his warm hand on her bare skin made Hermione's heart pound.
Ginny, looking very pleased with herself, said, "Come on you two."
***
"I've never been to a movie theater," Harry said the four of them found seats in the fifth row.
"Really?" Hermione said.
"Yeah. The Dursley's always made me go over to the neighbor's house whenever they went out to do anything remotely fun."
"Bummer, man," Seamus said, taking a big handful of popcorn from the bag Ginny was holding.
"I saw my first Muggle movie last summer," Ginny said loudly, getting curious stares from some of the other people in the theater. "Hermione took me and some of our co-workers to see 'Spider-Man.' Can you imagine if we had taken Ron with us? He would have hated it."
Harry and the others laughed, then grew quiet. It was, for Harry at least, the first time someone had mentioned Ron without making him suddenly sad, which made him feel both happy and slightly guilty. The movie previews stared, and Harry watched them with interest. When the actual movie started, though, he realized that he and Seamus had been suckered into what he had heard referred to as a "chick flick."
Harry cast a glance at Hermione. She appeared to be watching the movie, but she seemed distracted, as if their were other things she was thinking about. In the seat next to her was Ginny, who, Harry observed, wasn't even pretending to watch the movie. She and Seamus were holding hands and whispering together.
Harry looked at Hermione again and gulped. It seemed so stupid; he had killed the most evil wizard of all time and yet he couldn't muster up the courage to tell the girl next to him how he felt about her. Sure, he'd told Hermione that he loved her, but the words "I love you" were so common nowadays that they seemed to have lost their meaning. Harry wasn't convinced that by saying those three little words that Hermione understood how deeply he cared for her, that he would die for her and he wanted to spent the rest of his life with her.
Ginny was coughing. Harry turned his head in her direction and saw that Seamus was watching her with concern on his face. She stopped, but after a few moments she started coughing again. When she stopped again Seamus kissed her on the forehead.
Following Seamus's lead, Harry decided to be bold and put his arm across Hermione's shoulders. He expected her to flinch, but she didn't. Instead she looked at Harry, smiled in a contented sort of way, and snuggled closer to him, or as close as she could in a seat with immovable cup holders. The movie passed much more quickly after that.
***
"Ginny doesn't feel well," Seamus explained. He, Hermione and Harry were standing outside the theater. Ginny and Seamus had gotten up during the movie, and when they hadn't come back for about fifteen minutes, Hermione and Harry had gone to see what was wrong.
"Poor Ginny," Hermione said sympathetically.
"Yeah, she's sitting in her car right now," Seamus said. "I'm going to take her home. Do you guys have some other way to get home?"
"We'll manage," said Harry before Hermione had the chance to speak.
"Okay," Seamus said, "see you guys later."
Hermione waited until Seamus was out of hearing distance before turning on Harry and saying, "What do you mean, 'we'll manage?' I can't Apparate home."
"I know," Harry said. "I wasn't thinking of Apparating."
"What were you thinking of, then?"
"I'll tell after the movie's over. If you want to go back, that is."
Hermione smiled. "Were you actually enjoying it?"
Harry returned Hermione's smile and gently stroked her cheek. "Parts of it."
Hermione closed her eyes briefly, savoring Harry's touch. When she opened her them Harry was watching her with those captivating eyes. 'Lovely eyes,' Hermione thought dreamily.
"Let's get out of here," Harry said quietly. Hermione nodded.
Harry checked to make sure that no Muggles were walking up to the theater, then he took his wand out and muttered something under his breath that Hermione couldn't hear. Nothing happened.
"Harry, are you sure that spell worked?" Hermione asked.
"It worked," Harry said, pocketing his wand. "But it's going to take a minute."
Hermione gave him a puzzled look, but Harry just grinned and grabbed Hermione's hand. "Come on," he said. "Just trust me."
Harry led Hermione behind the theater. This reminded Hermione of something, and it wasn't until Harry had taken her in his arms that she realized what it was. The last time she and Harry had been behind a building together they had declared their love for each other. Hermione gazed up at Harry, feeling hopeful but at the same time a bit fearful, fearful that Harry would say that he loved her, fearful of the silence that would follow.
"Hermione," Harry said. If he meant to say more, he didn't get around to it, for the next moment they were kissing, kissing so passionately that it took Hermione's breath away. When the kissing ended they kept their arms locked around each other and Harry whispered to Hermione the very thing she had hadn't wanted him to say.
Thankfully, Hermione was spared having to think of a response, for at that moment the leaves of a nearby tree rustled, though there was no breeze that night. This seemed to mean something to Harry, for he smiled and said, "Remember the spell I said?"
"I remember wondering what it was," Hermione said, watching Harry with interest.
"I still think of it as 'our' charm," Harry said. "You helped me learn it to perfection."
Hermione's hands, which had been resting on Harry's broad shoulders, dropped to her side. "Harry," she said, her shock very evident in her voice, "you did a Summoning Charm?" "Yep," Harry said, grinning in an almost mischievous way. He reached out his hand and clutched what seemed to be just air, but when his fingers locked around the "air" a magnificent broom appeared.
Hermione nearly jumped back in surprise. "Harry," she said slowly, "when you said you had a way for us to get home, you didn't mean-"
"Yeah," Harry interupted. Hermione was irrated by the amused expression on his face. "We're riding home in style. This is a Firebolt360, just look at the handle, pure-"
"Harry!" Hermione snapped. "I haven't grown more fond of Quidditch since we left Hogwarts. There's no way I'm riding home on that thing! If I never had to ride on one again I'd be relieved. They're so dangerous, I can't believe you actually-"
Hermione's potentially long rant was cut off, for Harry leaned towards forward and kissed her, lightly but effictively. He took her face in his hands and said softly, "Trust me."
Hermione cast a nervous glance at the broomstick, but when she looked at Harry her eyes softened and she said, "Okay."
Harry mounted the broomstick, and a hesitant Hermione followed. She was wondering how to hold on when Harry answered her unasked question, saying, "You'll have to hold onto my waist."
Hermione nodded and wrapped her arms around him. She swore that she felt Harry's body stiffen, but the next second they were up in the air and all Hermione could think of was holding on. They flew up high so as not to be spotted. Harry pointed out buildings and areas like a tourguide, though Hermione didn't dare look where he was pointing. Only when Harry said, "And there's the cemetary," did she force herself to look downward.
"We should stop there, shouldn't we?" Harry said.
"Yeah," Hermione agreed, though she didn't really want to. Everything was going so well, and she knew that the sight of Ron's grave would depress her. Still, she felt compelled to stop out of devotion to Ron. And Harry would be there to comfort her.
Harry landed the broom directly in front of Ron's tombstone. They dismounted and stood looking at the stone in silence. Finally, Hermione said in a quiet voice, "I miss him."
"Me too," Harry replied. He reached out for Hermione's hand and held it.
After another period of silence, Harry turned to Hermione and said bluntly, "Did you like Ron?"
Hermione, who had been looking sadly at the tombstone, stared up at Harry. "Of course I liked him."
"Yeah, I know he was your friend and everything, but . . . did you really like him?"
Hermione, suddenly realizing what Harry was asking, smiled weakly and put both her hands in his. "I loved him like a brother," she said. "I know how much he cared for me, and I cared for him, too. But I like you, Harry. I chose you."
Hermione didn't know why, but after she said those words Harry looked up at the sky for a long time, then turned back to Hermione and grinned.
"So you like me, huh?" Harry said, in an almost teasing voice. "You just like me?"
Hermione sighed. She knew he'd do this to her. Her eyes fixed on the ground, Hermione said, "I can't forget what happened overnight, Harry. Its been haunting me ever since we broke up. I still remember the arguing, the broken dishes, the cold shoulders and the-" She paused and looked at him briefly and their eyes met. Then she looked back down and said, "And the physical and verbal abuse."
They were both quiet, and Hermione knew they were remembering the same thing: the time Harry, in a rage, had shoved Hermione so hard that she lost her balance and fell. She had dumped him the next day.
"But I've changed, Hermione," Harry said. He sounded like he was pleading. "I know I have."
"So you've said," Hermione replied. She knew she sounded cold, but she couldn't help it. All the pain she had felt during their relationship and after it, all the pain she had tried so hard to keep inside, was fighting to get out. It was tempting to just let herself cry in Harry's arms, to cry and then forget. But it wasn't that simple.
Hermione looked up at Harry again. 'Or maybe it is,' she thought to herself.
And then Harry was hugging her, and all the bad memories were erased. It was as though they had never had a single fight, never broken up. They were still together, and they comforted each other over the loss of their friend. Every fiber of Hermione's being wished that it was so, and the longer Harry's arms were wrapped around her, the more she had to remind herself of all that had happened.
Harry let go of Hermione. The air was cold outside his embrace. Harry kissed her, a soft kiss on the cheek that left Hermione more breathless than the passionate kissing.
The slight breeze that had been blowing suddenly turned into a sharp wind. It was like an omen to Hermione. She was too sensible to put much faith in signs, but this one was to poignant to miss. She felt confused and lost, but mostly she just felt exhausted.
"Will you take me home now?" Hermione asked. "I'm tired."
Harry sighed softly, looking down at his feet. "Sure," he muttered.
***
Harry walked Hermione up to her apartment. Her small hand was tightly clutching his broad one, which was oddly comforting to Harry. She kept stealing little glances up at Harry, as though she were afraid to look at him for too long. Harry never took his eyes off of her.
When they arrived at her door, Harry kissed Hermione's hand and said good night. He was about to leave when he felt Hermione's hand on his shoulder, gently holding him back. Harry turned around and Hermione kissed him, a long full kiss. Once it was over they looked at each other as though unsure of who was supposed to make the next move. Harry knew that he wanted to kiss her, and he hoped that she wanted to kiss him. But after a few seconds had trickled by, Harry gave Hermione one last hug and turned to leave again.
"Harry!" Hermione called. Harry stopped and turned around once more. She looked so beautiful in the dim light, but Harry held back.
"What?" he asked, telling himself that he was being stupid as he said it.
Hermione took a step towards him. "I need to take it slow," she said simply.
Slow. He wasn't being slow enough? But Harry just nodded. "I understand," he said. Then, without thinking, he blurted, "I'll keep loving you for as long as it takes."
"And you'll always be close to me," Hermione said. Harry nodded again, but in his mind he thought, 'She didn't say that she loved me.'
As if she could read his thoughts, Hermione said, "If I ever tell you that I love you, you'll know I really mean it. It's not a phrase I use lightly."
Harry smiled. "Me neither."
They stared at each other for a moment. Then Hermione said quietly, "Well, good night."
"Yeah. Good night."
Chapter Five
The Date
"What do you think?" Hermione asked, holding up two dresses. "The black one or the red one?"
"Definitely the red one," Ginny said. "The black one looks so . . . old."
"But the red one is too-" Hermione cut herself off.
"Sexy?" Ginny finished for her. Hermione scowled and threw a box of tissues at her. Ginny caught it, laughing. Then she began to sneeze and found the tissues quite useful.
"Seriously, Hermione," Ginny said, after blowing her nose, "it's time you stopped wearing all those ugly clothes."
"Thanks, Ginny."
"You're welcome. Come on, Hermione, we're not going to be young forever. Flaunt it."
"I don't want Harry to think I'm trying to seduce him or something."
"He won't. But even if he does, is that really such a bad thing?"
Hermione laughed in spite of herself and turned to the mirror. She held both dresses up to herself and surveyed them. Then, somewhat reluctantly, she walked out of the bathroom and went to hang up the black dress.
Seamus was sitting on her bed, playing GameBoy. "Hey, Monie," Seamus said without looking up at her. "Is Ginny being evil?"
"No more so than usual," Hermione said, hanging the dress up. From the bathroom Ginny called, "I heard that!"
A soft knock on the door brought their conversation to a halt. Hermione rushed back to the bathroom and cried to Ginny, "It's him!"
"Of course it's him," Ginny said, irritating Hermione with her broad grin.
"But he's early!"
"Better early than late. Go on and get changed. Seamus and I will keep him occupied."
"Be nice."
Ginny left, and Hermione hastily shut the door behind her. She started changing into the red dress and listened as Ginny opened the door and greeted Harry. Hermione tried to zip up the zipper on the dress but she couldn't quite make it go up all the way. 'Crap,' she thought, trying to make it zip up for a third time. At last she gave up and decided to discreetly ask Ginny to zip it before they left.
When Hermione was finally ready, she glanced over herself one last time in the mirror. She heard the others laughing and she looked apprehensively at the door. Hermione pinched her cheeks to give them a little more color, let out a deep breath and opened the door.
Harry, Ginny and Seamus were standing around in a little circle. They all looked at Hermione as she came out of the bathroom.
"Hermione," Harry said, looking slightly flustered, "you look beautiful."
Hermione's face turned red. "Thanks," she said softly. "You look nice, too." And he did. Hermione noticed that Harry had tried to tame his wild hair a bit, and he wore a clean work shirt and dark pants. She looked at his handsome face and smiled shyly.
As they were taking their jackets from Hermione's coat rack, Hermione turned to Ginny and asked in a whisper, "Hey, would you mind zipping up the back of my dress?"
Ginny, seeing that Harry was standing behind Hermione, called over to him, "Hey, Harry, would you zip up Hermione's dress for her?"
Hermione blushed, giving Ginny an angry look, but she blushed even more when Harry replied, "Sure." The touch of his warm hand on her bare skin made Hermione's heart pound.
Ginny, looking very pleased with herself, said, "Come on you two."
***
"I've never been to a movie theater," Harry said the four of them found seats in the fifth row.
"Really?" Hermione said.
"Yeah. The Dursley's always made me go over to the neighbor's house whenever they went out to do anything remotely fun."
"Bummer, man," Seamus said, taking a big handful of popcorn from the bag Ginny was holding.
"I saw my first Muggle movie last summer," Ginny said loudly, getting curious stares from some of the other people in the theater. "Hermione took me and some of our co-workers to see 'Spider-Man.' Can you imagine if we had taken Ron with us? He would have hated it."
Harry and the others laughed, then grew quiet. It was, for Harry at least, the first time someone had mentioned Ron without making him suddenly sad, which made him feel both happy and slightly guilty. The movie previews stared, and Harry watched them with interest. When the actual movie started, though, he realized that he and Seamus had been suckered into what he had heard referred to as a "chick flick."
Harry cast a glance at Hermione. She appeared to be watching the movie, but she seemed distracted, as if their were other things she was thinking about. In the seat next to her was Ginny, who, Harry observed, wasn't even pretending to watch the movie. She and Seamus were holding hands and whispering together.
Harry looked at Hermione again and gulped. It seemed so stupid; he had killed the most evil wizard of all time and yet he couldn't muster up the courage to tell the girl next to him how he felt about her. Sure, he'd told Hermione that he loved her, but the words "I love you" were so common nowadays that they seemed to have lost their meaning. Harry wasn't convinced that by saying those three little words that Hermione understood how deeply he cared for her, that he would die for her and he wanted to spent the rest of his life with her.
Ginny was coughing. Harry turned his head in her direction and saw that Seamus was watching her with concern on his face. She stopped, but after a few moments she started coughing again. When she stopped again Seamus kissed her on the forehead.
Following Seamus's lead, Harry decided to be bold and put his arm across Hermione's shoulders. He expected her to flinch, but she didn't. Instead she looked at Harry, smiled in a contented sort of way, and snuggled closer to him, or as close as she could in a seat with immovable cup holders. The movie passed much more quickly after that.
***
"Ginny doesn't feel well," Seamus explained. He, Hermione and Harry were standing outside the theater. Ginny and Seamus had gotten up during the movie, and when they hadn't come back for about fifteen minutes, Hermione and Harry had gone to see what was wrong.
"Poor Ginny," Hermione said sympathetically.
"Yeah, she's sitting in her car right now," Seamus said. "I'm going to take her home. Do you guys have some other way to get home?"
"We'll manage," said Harry before Hermione had the chance to speak.
"Okay," Seamus said, "see you guys later."
Hermione waited until Seamus was out of hearing distance before turning on Harry and saying, "What do you mean, 'we'll manage?' I can't Apparate home."
"I know," Harry said. "I wasn't thinking of Apparating."
"What were you thinking of, then?"
"I'll tell after the movie's over. If you want to go back, that is."
Hermione smiled. "Were you actually enjoying it?"
Harry returned Hermione's smile and gently stroked her cheek. "Parts of it."
Hermione closed her eyes briefly, savoring Harry's touch. When she opened her them Harry was watching her with those captivating eyes. 'Lovely eyes,' Hermione thought dreamily.
"Let's get out of here," Harry said quietly. Hermione nodded.
Harry checked to make sure that no Muggles were walking up to the theater, then he took his wand out and muttered something under his breath that Hermione couldn't hear. Nothing happened.
"Harry, are you sure that spell worked?" Hermione asked.
"It worked," Harry said, pocketing his wand. "But it's going to take a minute."
Hermione gave him a puzzled look, but Harry just grinned and grabbed Hermione's hand. "Come on," he said. "Just trust me."
Harry led Hermione behind the theater. This reminded Hermione of something, and it wasn't until Harry had taken her in his arms that she realized what it was. The last time she and Harry had been behind a building together they had declared their love for each other. Hermione gazed up at Harry, feeling hopeful but at the same time a bit fearful, fearful that Harry would say that he loved her, fearful of the silence that would follow.
"Hermione," Harry said. If he meant to say more, he didn't get around to it, for the next moment they were kissing, kissing so passionately that it took Hermione's breath away. When the kissing ended they kept their arms locked around each other and Harry whispered to Hermione the very thing she had hadn't wanted him to say.
Thankfully, Hermione was spared having to think of a response, for at that moment the leaves of a nearby tree rustled, though there was no breeze that night. This seemed to mean something to Harry, for he smiled and said, "Remember the spell I said?"
"I remember wondering what it was," Hermione said, watching Harry with interest.
"I still think of it as 'our' charm," Harry said. "You helped me learn it to perfection."
Hermione's hands, which had been resting on Harry's broad shoulders, dropped to her side. "Harry," she said, her shock very evident in her voice, "you did a Summoning Charm?" "Yep," Harry said, grinning in an almost mischievous way. He reached out his hand and clutched what seemed to be just air, but when his fingers locked around the "air" a magnificent broom appeared.
Hermione nearly jumped back in surprise. "Harry," she said slowly, "when you said you had a way for us to get home, you didn't mean-"
"Yeah," Harry interupted. Hermione was irrated by the amused expression on his face. "We're riding home in style. This is a Firebolt360, just look at the handle, pure-"
"Harry!" Hermione snapped. "I haven't grown more fond of Quidditch since we left Hogwarts. There's no way I'm riding home on that thing! If I never had to ride on one again I'd be relieved. They're so dangerous, I can't believe you actually-"
Hermione's potentially long rant was cut off, for Harry leaned towards forward and kissed her, lightly but effictively. He took her face in his hands and said softly, "Trust me."
Hermione cast a nervous glance at the broomstick, but when she looked at Harry her eyes softened and she said, "Okay."
Harry mounted the broomstick, and a hesitant Hermione followed. She was wondering how to hold on when Harry answered her unasked question, saying, "You'll have to hold onto my waist."
Hermione nodded and wrapped her arms around him. She swore that she felt Harry's body stiffen, but the next second they were up in the air and all Hermione could think of was holding on. They flew up high so as not to be spotted. Harry pointed out buildings and areas like a tourguide, though Hermione didn't dare look where he was pointing. Only when Harry said, "And there's the cemetary," did she force herself to look downward.
"We should stop there, shouldn't we?" Harry said.
"Yeah," Hermione agreed, though she didn't really want to. Everything was going so well, and she knew that the sight of Ron's grave would depress her. Still, she felt compelled to stop out of devotion to Ron. And Harry would be there to comfort her.
Harry landed the broom directly in front of Ron's tombstone. They dismounted and stood looking at the stone in silence. Finally, Hermione said in a quiet voice, "I miss him."
"Me too," Harry replied. He reached out for Hermione's hand and held it.
After another period of silence, Harry turned to Hermione and said bluntly, "Did you like Ron?"
Hermione, who had been looking sadly at the tombstone, stared up at Harry. "Of course I liked him."
"Yeah, I know he was your friend and everything, but . . . did you really like him?"
Hermione, suddenly realizing what Harry was asking, smiled weakly and put both her hands in his. "I loved him like a brother," she said. "I know how much he cared for me, and I cared for him, too. But I like you, Harry. I chose you."
Hermione didn't know why, but after she said those words Harry looked up at the sky for a long time, then turned back to Hermione and grinned.
"So you like me, huh?" Harry said, in an almost teasing voice. "You just like me?"
Hermione sighed. She knew he'd do this to her. Her eyes fixed on the ground, Hermione said, "I can't forget what happened overnight, Harry. Its been haunting me ever since we broke up. I still remember the arguing, the broken dishes, the cold shoulders and the-" She paused and looked at him briefly and their eyes met. Then she looked back down and said, "And the physical and verbal abuse."
They were both quiet, and Hermione knew they were remembering the same thing: the time Harry, in a rage, had shoved Hermione so hard that she lost her balance and fell. She had dumped him the next day.
"But I've changed, Hermione," Harry said. He sounded like he was pleading. "I know I have."
"So you've said," Hermione replied. She knew she sounded cold, but she couldn't help it. All the pain she had felt during their relationship and after it, all the pain she had tried so hard to keep inside, was fighting to get out. It was tempting to just let herself cry in Harry's arms, to cry and then forget. But it wasn't that simple.
Hermione looked up at Harry again. 'Or maybe it is,' she thought to herself.
And then Harry was hugging her, and all the bad memories were erased. It was as though they had never had a single fight, never broken up. They were still together, and they comforted each other over the loss of their friend. Every fiber of Hermione's being wished that it was so, and the longer Harry's arms were wrapped around her, the more she had to remind herself of all that had happened.
Harry let go of Hermione. The air was cold outside his embrace. Harry kissed her, a soft kiss on the cheek that left Hermione more breathless than the passionate kissing.
The slight breeze that had been blowing suddenly turned into a sharp wind. It was like an omen to Hermione. She was too sensible to put much faith in signs, but this one was to poignant to miss. She felt confused and lost, but mostly she just felt exhausted.
"Will you take me home now?" Hermione asked. "I'm tired."
Harry sighed softly, looking down at his feet. "Sure," he muttered.
***
Harry walked Hermione up to her apartment. Her small hand was tightly clutching his broad one, which was oddly comforting to Harry. She kept stealing little glances up at Harry, as though she were afraid to look at him for too long. Harry never took his eyes off of her.
When they arrived at her door, Harry kissed Hermione's hand and said good night. He was about to leave when he felt Hermione's hand on his shoulder, gently holding him back. Harry turned around and Hermione kissed him, a long full kiss. Once it was over they looked at each other as though unsure of who was supposed to make the next move. Harry knew that he wanted to kiss her, and he hoped that she wanted to kiss him. But after a few seconds had trickled by, Harry gave Hermione one last hug and turned to leave again.
"Harry!" Hermione called. Harry stopped and turned around once more. She looked so beautiful in the dim light, but Harry held back.
"What?" he asked, telling himself that he was being stupid as he said it.
Hermione took a step towards him. "I need to take it slow," she said simply.
Slow. He wasn't being slow enough? But Harry just nodded. "I understand," he said. Then, without thinking, he blurted, "I'll keep loving you for as long as it takes."
"And you'll always be close to me," Hermione said. Harry nodded again, but in his mind he thought, 'She didn't say that she loved me.'
As if she could read his thoughts, Hermione said, "If I ever tell you that I love you, you'll know I really mean it. It's not a phrase I use lightly."
Harry smiled. "Me neither."
They stared at each other for a moment. Then Hermione said quietly, "Well, good night."
"Yeah. Good night."
