a.n. This was already written, but was a part of something about twice as long. The idea may end up being expanded, but it actually works as a nice one shot.

Disclosure: I don't own Harry Potter.

-:::-

Harry Potter could admit that he had done some supremely stupid shit in his life. He'd jumped on the back of a fully grown mountain troll when he was eleven years old – what did he think that would accomplish, he had no idea – he'd stared down a basilisk with nothing but a flaming chicken and a ratty hat as his backup, and he'd tried to outfly a Hungarian Horntail on a broom – a very flammable broom. All these things seemed perfectly necessary at the time, but in hindsight were really, really dumb.

He could hear Hermione in the back of his mind throwing her hands up in the air and sighing out 'honestly, Harry,' over and over again.

But, and this was a big but, he had never done something so utterly and completely stupid as to jump in a freezing pond with a Horcrux around his neck. Now that he was gasping for air as the chain around the Horcrux slowly choked the life out of him, Harry could admit that this time, he wasn't going to survive his own stupidity. He was going to die at the hands of a stupid necklace, which was maybe the dumbest way to die ever.

Harry kicked with his feet, struggling to get to the surface, but the necklace held tight and was dragging him down. The fact that it seemed to be able to move on its own was scary, and Harry promised himself that they would never wear the damn thing again. That is, he'd keep them from wearing it again if he found a way out of the damn pond he was currently drowning in.

He managed to make his way higher up towards the surface with black spots appearing in his vision, but he missed the whole he had created in the ice. Harry clawed at the cold surface, but it didn't give way. His last thought before he took in a breath of icy, painful water, was that Hermione was surely going to resurrect his skinny ass just so she could kill him herself.

-:::-

Hermione wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked around the tent. She was so, so sick of crying, but these days it seemed like it was all she could do. Even in the few moments of sleep, she was able to grab every night, she would wake up with tears on her cheeks. She knew that she had to be scaring the crap out of Harry, but she just couldn't get a handle on her emotions.

Part of it, of course, was Ron. Hermione knew that Harry probably thought it was all about their red-headed friend's abandonment, but really that was only a part of her problems. Sure, it hurt. Ron was her best friend or at least one of them, and she cared for him. She was worried that he'd been captured and was lying dead in a gutter somewhere. She wasn't crying because she loved him, at least not as she had hoped to. Maybe she was crying because she didn't love him like she had wanted to. It was so confusing.

For years, the one she'd pined after was Harry, though she knew the raven-haired idiot had no clue. Since he'd jumped on the back of that damn troll to save her life, she'd dedicated herself to him and him alone. Ron was there, but he often made her cry. It wasn't even until third year that she felt she and Ron actually became friends. They went to Hogsmeade together when Harry was stuck in the castle, and they'd actually learned to like one another as friends should. They still fought, but that was just who they were.

Then at the end of 5th year, she'd nearly died, and everything seemed to change. Harry was destined to kill or be killed and she was just so sick of fighting, so she had pushed Harry away and had looked towards Ronald Weasley. After all, it only made sense. If she couldn't give her heart to one best friend, why not the other? But Ron was...well he was Ron. He never looked at her that way when she wanted him to. Instead, he looked towards the girls with bigger tits and shapelier asses, like Lavender or Fleur. It was only when she turned her own attention to another boy that Ron decided she was worthy of him. It was why she had been so...stupid, for lack of a better word, to ask Cormac McClaggen to Slughorn's Christmas party. That had been torture. She'd had to put up with McClaggen's wandering hands and she had to watch Harry have a good time with Luna Lovegood of all people.

Hermione sighed and wiped away a fresh batch of tears. No, her tears weren't all because of her confused love life. Most of it was because of Harry. Harry, the man she loved. Harry, who she was so worried about all the time. The constant fear was wearing away at her and she just couldn't help the tears that flowed out of her eyes nearly constantly.

Hermione thought for a moment. Harry was being awfully quiet. She had tried to protest when he had said he was going to take the watch – he'd been taking most of them these last few weeks – but he had insisted.

Harry always had a fire going at night, using charms to keep it from being seen. But she didn't hear it crackling. She got up from her bunk and made her way out of the tent. She cursed when she found no sign of Harry. Harry had her wand, which was even more infuriating, so she stomped off into the forest, looking for her wayward best friend, her fears and misery being left behind being replaced with anger. Where the hell was Harry Potter?

-:::-

Harry woke up, but he couldn't open his eyes at first. He felt sluggish and numb all over, but he could tell the feeling was quickly fading away. Eventually, he was able to slowly open his eyes. His glasses were still on his face, so he took a look around. This definitely wasn't the pond he had been drowning in just moments before. And it wasn't the forest, either. He assumed that he had been rescued – probably by Hermione – and that she'd be right by his side telling him what a dunderhead he had been.

Instead, he was at King's Cross. And not the King's Cross he had seen so many times with its trains and thousands of frenzied people moving to and fro. No, instead, this King's Cross was empty. And really clean. And bright.

Harry slowly stood up and realized that he was buck naked. He yelped and instinctively covered his bits. He looked around, just knowing that thousands of people were going to come out of nowhere to see him standing nude in the middle of London's busiest train station. But there was really no one around.

'Dammit,' Harry thought. 'I really wish I had clothes. Where the hell did my pants go?'

Just as he thought that a white robe appeared on a bench. Harry stared at it for several moments, almost expecting it to be a mirage. When it didn't disappear, he walked to the bench and put the robe on.

"That's good, pup. I really didn't want to stare at your dangly bits all day," A voice said from behind him.

Harry spun around. He knew that voice. "Sirius!" Harry shouted as he flung himself into his godfather's arms. He felt Sirius hug him back, and Harry couldn't stop the sob that escaped his throat even if he tried.

"There, there, pup, no need to cry." Harry ignored that advice and just clung harder to the man he had missed so much for the last year.

When he finally pulled himself together, Harry realized what this all meant. "I'm dead. Hermione..."

Sirius laughed. "Of course you're not dead. As for your lovely little girlfriend, she's going to be really, really angry with you when you go back."

"She's not…"

"Oh, please. Deny it to yourself all you want, but we all knew that that little witch loved you and that you feel the exact same way."

Harry pulled away from his godfather and looked at the man oddly. "Sirius, Hermione doesn't see me like that. She's spent the last six weeks crying because Ron abandoned her."

"Oh, such a young fool you are, Harry," Sirius said as he grabbed Harry by the arm and led him to a bench facing a set of train tracks. "But we'll talk about that in a few minutes, I guess."

"So I'm not dead?" Harry asked, confused. "But I drowned."

"Indeed you did. But you have a secret that nobody but Albus Dumbledore knew about. Tom Riddle created six horcruxes. What he didn't know was that the night he killed your parents, he made an accidental one that attached itself to the scar that sits on your forehead."

Harry's hand flew to his forehead. "I am a Horcrux?"

"Were. Were a horcrux, actually," Sirius said with a grin.

"Oh. I died."

"Kind of. I mean you're definitely not dead, but your body did die. When that happened, the little piece of Dark Wanker soul was expelled and is curled up over there," Sirius pointed towards another bench where a sick-looking baby-like creature was whimpering. "Now when you go back, you'll not be a horcrux."

"I do get to go back?"

"Of course. Technically, I'm supposed to offer you a choice of going on and seeing your parents or going back to your witch, but we both know that you'll be going back to the land of the living."

Harry blushed but nodded.

"Good. It's good that you're not denying it. What was that with Ginevera Weasley last year anyways? She looks like your sister might have if you parents had lived."

Harry cringed. He had never thought about that before, but Sirius was right. Ginny did look like what a sister might have looked like.

"Don't worry about it. You might just be one of those guys who wanted to do their mum," Sirius said with a snicker. Harry punched his godfather hard in the shoulder. "Kidding. Now, I have some things to pass along to you."

"Such as what?"

"Well, some knowledge first. Riddle likes the wizarding world a lot, and he was caught up in the trappings of belonging to the wizarding world. That means he loves their institutions."

"Gringotts and Hogwarts?"

"Indeed. I can't tell you more, but you should know that the Goblins are not happy with his takeover."

Harry nodded.

"Next, tell her how you feel. I know you gave up on her in fifth year, but she's important to you and it would be a shame to see Hermione, the brightest witch I ever met, waste herself on your best mate when she could be wasting her time with you."

Harry sighed. He had given up hope on Hermione in fifth year. She had kissed his cheek at the end of fourth year and he had hoped that that meant she wanted more from him, but she had never brought it up again. But then again, neither had he, so maybe it was all just in his head.

"I'll think about it."

"Good. Your mum and dad wanted to be here, but they had to hold back Dumbledore who tried to push his way through. No doubt he'd try to bullshite you."

Harry laughed. Sirius stood up and pulled Harry to his feet. "You're going to be fine, pup. Just pay attention to the things that little witch of yours has to say and for the love of Merlin, try not to drown yourself again."

Harry blushed again. "That was dumb."

"Yes it was. But you will have the sword when you get back, just be careful. Hermione will actually have the sword, and she'll be very angry with you."

Harry blanched. "Damn. She's going to be so mad."

"You want my advice."

Harry narrowed his eyes but nodded.

"Kiss her the first moment you wake up. She won't have time to kill you if she's busy kissing you."

With that, Sirus slapped Harry on the back and the world went black. Harry, soon found himself lying on the hard ground once again with his eyes closed. Someone was pounding on his chest shouting 'breathe damn it!' as loud as they could.

Harry coughed, choking on the water that spewed from his throat and mouth. The pounding on his chest stopped.

"Harry?"

Harry coughed and coughed. His eyes were blurry, but he knew exactly who was kneeling beside him. At that moment, though he was still trying to get the water out of his lungs, he realized that Sirius was right. He wasn't going to let another chance pass him by. He was in love with Hermione Granger. It was time to make sure she knew that.

If she didn't kill him first.

-:::-

Hermione couldn't describe what she felt when she saw Harry's lifeless body floating just under the ice. She knew she screamed out his name and she had to keep herself from throwing herself to her knees and begging him not to be dead.

Whatever it was she was feeling didn't pass as she pulled him out of the water and laid him on the ground beside the pond. Hermione would forever be thankful that her parents had made her take a CPR course after her fourth year. In the back of her mind, she knew that she would be disappointed that her first real kiss with Harry would be when he was lying half-dead on the forest floor, but the thought was only fleeting as she pressed her lips to his and sucked in a breath of oxygen to force into his lungs.

It seemed to go on forever. Minutes or hours or days might have passed with the only sound being her sobs and her pleas for him to not die, to come back to her, to please, please not be dead. When he finally began to cough and she knew she had succeeded, she pulled her hands away from his chest and curled up beside him, sobbing with relief.

"Harry?" She asks, her voice cracking. She reached for him again and watched as his eyes squinted open.

"H-Hermione?"

"I'm here," Hermione whispered as she sat up and cupped his cheek.

"I...I'm sorry."

Hermione let out a watery laugh. "Oh, I'll lecture you later. Right now, I'm just so glad you're okay."

She watched as Harry started to shiver. "Come on, let's get you back to the tent. You need fresh clothes."

Harry shook his head, even as his teeth began to click together. "The Sword."

Hermione looked at him oddly. "What sword?"

"G-gryffindor's sword That's why I j-jumped in."

Hermione's eyes widened and then she rushed towards the pond. Sure enough. The Sword of Gryffindor was laying on the bottom of the pond.

"I'll go down and get it, then we really need to get you warm." With that she pulled her jumper over her head, pulled her jeans down, and jumped into the freezing cold water in just her knickers and bra, thinking nothing about what it would look like to her best friend who was just staring at the sight before him in shock.

It was so cold. The shock drove the breath that she had taken right out of her, but she paid it no mind. Instead, she quickly made her way down to the bottom of the shallow pond, and grabbed the sword by the hilt, and swam back to the surface.

When she pulled herself from the pond – with a still shocked Harry's help – she shivered violently. That was when she realized that she had just stripped mostly naked right in front of Harry. Hermione felt the blood rush to her cheeks as she tried to cover herself.

"Come on, Hermione. Get yourself dressed. It's too late for modesty and if you don't get some clothes back on I won't be the only one sick." Harry handed her the jumper she had discarded and she numbly pulled it over her head. She grabbed her jeans and slipped them over her legs.

"Warming charm?" Hermione asked as her teeth started to clatter in time with Harry's.

Harry blushed and pulled out Hermione's wand and cast a warming charm on both of them. Immediately, Hermione felt much better. She grasped the Sword.

"We should do the locket before we go back to the tent," Harry said, looking down at the sword.

"Harry…"

"I know we just went through another…whatever it is we always go through, but I want to get this done. And then I have some things to tell you. Please? Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, even if all she really wanted to do was sit in front of a fire for all eternity. She held out the sword to Harry, but he shook his head.

"You know how Gryffindor was. It has to be you. You're the one who went down to get it."

Hermione gulped. "It's your duty, Harry."

"And I'll be right here, but the sword only comes to those who are worthy. I failed at getting it out of the pond. You did it. It should be you."

"Fine," Hermione snapped. "Hand me the locket. We'll use that fallen tree."

Harry took off the locket and handed it to her. She could feel the usual malevolence that seemed to flow from the locket into her, only this time it seemed so much worse. Not wanting to hold it for longer than she had to, Hermione placed it quickly on a fallen tree log.

"How do we open it?" She asked, still irritated that Harry was making her do this when she was already angry with him for almost dying.

"I'll open it," Harry said, stepping up beside her.

"Okay," Hermione said.

"You're angry?"

"No, really? I'm pissed because I'm cold and I'm pissed because you went off without me. How dare you just walk away from me, Harry Potter! You could have died. I might not have found you in time, or at all. What would happen then? You-Know-Who would win, that's what. I'd be Malfoy's sex slave for a while until he got sick of me and then I'd be killed along with everyone else, and why? All because Mr. I'm Harry Bloody Potter seems to think he's fucking invincible. So yeah, I'm pissed off. We'll talk about it later. Now let's get this done so I can yell at you some more."

Then the idiot had the bloody audacity to grin at her. Hermione scowled back at him and then said, "Well, are you going to open this damn thing or not?"

Harry grinned wider but did as she asked. Immediately the situation became much more serious and Hermione stumbled back, still clutching the sword.

Out of the locket poured dark black mist that soon took the form of a gigantic version of Tom Riddle with glowing red eyes.

"I see your heart, Hermione Granger, and it is mine!"

"No," Hermione whimpered.

"Yes. He doesn't care for you, you know? Neither of them do. Neither of them ever have. That's the way it always will be, you stupid little know-it-all. No one will ever care. Not your parents, not your friends, nobody."

"Hermione! Don't listen to it! Stab the locket!" Harry shouted from behind her.

"Don't listen to it, Hermione," the locket mocked. "But you're going to listen to me, aren't you? Because you know it's all true. Never good enough for the boy you've loved for years. Not good enough for your only other choice either."

Hermione stepped back again and sobbed.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted.

The mist changed into a sinister version of Ron. "Why would I ever want you? You're a bloody nightmare! You always have been. I wish that troll killed you. We'd all have been better off!"

Hermione shook her head, and could almost feel Harry trying to get closer to her, but the locket was changing the environment. It almost was like some kind of ward that was keeping Harry from reaching her. She could feel a strong wind blowing around her, creating a horrifying sound that almost drowned out Harry's pleading.

The mist changed again. Hermione knew what was coming. An evil-looking Harry Potter appeared in front of her, black mist swirling around him, like the most sinister smoke ever to exist.

"Nightmare! Why would I ever want you? The ugliest girl of our year! I have every girl at my beck and call, why would I want such an ugly little bookworm? Nag, nag, nag! Do your homework, Harry, don't break curfew, Harry! Merlin, what a bore!"

Then a second figure appeared. This one with bright red hair. Ginny didn't say anything. She didn't need to. Instead, she just grabbed the evil Harry by the shoulders and started to kiss him passionately. The scene quickly devolved, and soon both figures were naked. Hermione watched in horror as the evil Harry and Ginny started to make love to one another.

The pain and anguish she felt slowly changed into pure, unadulterated, fury. With a primal roar of rage, Hermione erased the horrifying vision in front of her by smashing the Sword of Gryffindor into the locket, causing it to scream in pain. Breathing hard, Hermione dropped the sword and fell to her knees. She didn't notice the tears running down her cheeks, nor did she notice Harry coming and kneeling in front of her.

What might have been hours later, Hermione finally realized that she was being hugged by her best friend, who was whispering comforting nonsense into her ear. Slowly, she pulled back, and looked at him, not bothering to wipe away the tears that she could now feel on her face.

Hermione didn't recognize the look on his face. Normally, Harry was one of the easiest people in the world to read. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and she could tell just from one look what he was feeling. But now, his eyes were dark and swirling with something she couldn't recognize.

For that reason, and probably many more, Hermione was quite shocked when Harry lent forward and pressed his lips to hers. Hermione felt her eyes widen. What was happening?

She'd thought of his kissing her many times before, of course. Maybe as early as first year, if she were being honest with herself. Being almost a year older than everyone else in her year made her start to think about boys a little earlier even than her dorm mates, though unlike them, she'd gone to great pains not to show it.

But now it was really happening, and Hermione didn't know what to do. Did she kiss him back? Did she want to? She had spent the last year trying to get over Harry Potter and move her affections to Ron, but now?

In the end, she didn't get to choose because Harry pulled back. She could see the blush of embarrassment coloring his cheeks as he looked away from her.

"I...I'm sorry, Hermione," Harry whispered. He stood up suddenly, but Hermione wasn't paying attention. Her hand had made its way up to her lips, trying to feel if they were different than they had been just seconds before. They weren't, but they felt different. The cold that had somehow seeped back into her during the Horcrux fight was gone and she felt warmth like she had never felt before.

Then she noticed that Harry was walking away, his head hung low and his shoulders slumped. Hermione sprung up, leaving the Sword of Gryffindor behind, and chased after him. She didn't even think about it when she tackled him. Somehow, she ended up on his chest, though how he had spun around so fast, she didn't know.

"Oompf," Harry grunted when they landed. "Hermione."

"Don't walk away from me, Harry Potter, after kissing me. What the hell?"

"I...I said I was sorry, Hermione."

"I don't want you to be sorry," Hermione said with a glare.

Harry looked lost. Hermione thought he looked adorable. "Well, then what do you want?"

"I want you to kiss me again, you idiot."

Harry's eyes widened, but Hermione didn't give him time to get over his shock. She lowered her face down and kissed him passionately. It took a moment, but eventually, Harry kissed her back.

Hermione didn't know how long they snogged there on the forest floor, but she knew when she finally pulled away and rested her forehead on Harry's, they were both out of breath. Harry's eyes were sparkling as he stared back at her and Hermione couldn't help the goofy grin that she could feel spreading across her face, nor could she resist the pull that required her to kiss him again. And again.

The pain of the Horcrux's taunts seemed to flow away as they snogged the breath out of each other. In fact, all thoughts left her behind other than how right this all felt.

When they pulled back for the final time, Hermione pushed herself up with her palms on either side of Harry's head. She smiled down at him.

"Wow."

Harry laughed.

"Wow is right," he said. He brought a hand up and cupped her cheek. Hermione couldn't help but lean into his touch. "We should get up, there's a stick poking me in the arse."

Hermione giggled but stood up. Harry popped up right in front of her and gathered her in his arms. He kissed her again gently for a moment and then pulled back. Hermione wasn't even embarrassed that she chased his lips for a moment. Harry just smiled at her.

"The locket was dumb, you know?"

Hermione looked at him questioningly.

"Really. How could I not choose you? I...I love you, Hermione Granger. I just thought...well, to be honest, I thought you loved Ron, so I chased after Cho and Ginny."

"Y-you love me?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. Have for years, really."

Hermione tipped her head up and kissed him hard for a moment and shoved her tongue into his mouth. Harry moaned as she pushed her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. It was so soft and he tasted so good, she knew she would never get enough of him.

When she couldn't go without air any longer she pulled back and then punched him in the shoulder. "I love you, too, you idiot. How dare you go off without me!"

Fin. (At least for now)