Hey all! I know, I know! It has been FOREVER since I updated...but life has been really crazy lately. Went back to school, got a job, started going to the gym daily, not to mention I am actually starting to develop a social life! LOL! Oh, lord. Prom is coming up aswell, so lots will be going on for that, yunno the drill. So I gotta work extra hours to pay for that, not to mention the fact that I have to save up for my trip to Vegas this summer with my friend Misti. Yep...lots of stuff. Anyways, enough of my rambling. I'm sure you couldn't care less about this, so on to the story!

Whatever is in here is Harry's thoughts

---Spies

"Hey, yourself" She said, walking over to Harry slowly.

"How long have you been there, Hermione...I mean...erm...what did you hear?"

"Well, from what I heard I can guess the bits I missed" She said, with a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"Umm...I...you see...we...he-"

"I know, Harry. Merlin do I know..." She mumbled, while cutting Harry off. He looked embarrassed beyond belief, a bit scared and hopefull, aswell. Emotions were flying over his face faster than the bludger from his second year. Hermione couldn't help but laugh a bit at his nervousness. This is the boy -no, man- who had faced Voldemort on numerous occasions. The man who had been in the public eye ever since he returned to the Wizarding World. But yet, this man couldn't face his best friend. It was all very comical.

"See? That's the response I was hoping to avoid!" He said, referring to her laughter.

"Oh, Harry, that's not what I was laughing about!" She said, as she kneeled in front of him as he looked at his shoes.

"Then what were you laughing at? Huh?"

"The fact that you, of all people, are scared of talking to me. I mean, your whole life you've faced challenges that most adult wizards couldn't live through and conquered! But yet you can't face your best friend?" She said, smiling at him sheepishly.

"But you're different, Hermione. You're...well, you're Hermione" He said shyly, looking completely adorable.

"What do you mean, though, Harry? I need to know what's running though your mind. I want to know what's going on...and...how...how you feel..." She said, trailing off slightly, while she herself turned her head downwards in embarrassment.

"Hermione..." He said, picking his head up and using his hand to turn hers upwards aswell.

"Hermione, I can't. I can't let you in my mind. I can't let you know how I feel. I can't risk you. It's just like the Ginny thing. If Voldemort found out anything he would surely use it against me by hurting those I love." He said, settling once again into "hero-mode".

"Harry! Don't be so bloody stupid! I'm one of your best friends! Do you honestly think Y- Voldemort isn't going to come after me anyway? Besides, this whole situation is way too cliche for my taste. It reminds me of all the Muggle hero movies." She said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"I know, I know...but...it's just...I am terrified of being responsible for any more tragedies, Hermione! I've already killed off Cedric, Sirius, and my parents. Not to mention I could have saved Dumbledore somehow. I can't lose anyone else, 'Mione." He said, sighing and sinking back into his seat.

"Harry, how many times do people have to tell you that none of those deaths were your fault? Cedric was killed by Peter, not you. I don't care how he came to be at that graveyard, Harry, it was still Peter. You had no idea that it was going to happen, and Cedric agreed to the tie. It was Peter and Voldemort, not you. As for Sirius, you know better than that. It was Bella. Plus, at least Sirius died while doing something important. He was protecting the ones he loved, just like you. Your parents? That's obvious. It was all Voldemort. That sick sociopath did it, not you! Your parents chose death to protect you. And in doing so they helped bring down Voldemort the first time around. They saved 10 years worth of lives by doing so. If it wasn't for them, you'd be dead aswell and Voldemort would be in full power by now. Dumbledore died because he was good. He died because he was doing the right thing. Yes, I know the locket was a fake, but neither of you knew that. Harry, none of those deaths were your fault. I know you won't take that at face value, but I'm not going to stop saying it. If you want to be the hero, fine. Search books for spells & hints about the Horcruxs, practice your Occlumency, work out, whatever, but pushing the people you love away isn't going to help you any. If anything, it will make it all worse. Remember, love is the most powerful and ancient magic there is. Don't refuse it. Embrace it." She said, pleading with Harry, trying to make him understand what the rest of the world knew.

"You're right. I won't accept that it wasn't my fault. I will always feel the guilt...but you are also right about what I should be doing. I've been wasting time. I'm sorry for that. But...you have to understand, I don't know how to embrace it. I've grown up without it...I've never learned how to handle relationships and stuff. But...Hermione...you have to know...I do care for you...more than you could ever know. I didn't...I didn't just break up with Ginny for that one reason...there was another, much more potent one than that. You." He said, looking to the ground again, letting out a huge sigh of relief, anticipation, and worry.

Great. I've probably just ruined my friendship

What he didn't expect, though, was Hermione to lift his face back up to see a smile on her face. A look of confusion spread over his face, but it didn't last long, as Hermione pulled his face towards her's and kissed him.

"Hermione...I...I don't understand...I thought you and Ron.." He stuttered, shocked beyond compare at what just happend.

"Harry, couldn't you see that Ron and I just didn't work? I don't want a relationship with someone whom I can never agree with...I want someone who thinks like I do, who doesn't flip out at the slightest thing. I want you, Harry" The pink tint darkend to that of a tomato. Her hands were figeting, and her breath was raspy.

"I...Hermione, everyone will hate us. I am 'supposed' to be with Ginny, and you are 'supposed' to be with Ron. How could we ever work out? Ron would hate me for 'stealing' you, and Ginny would hate you for 'stealing' me. Our friendship would disinegrate. What could be worth all that?" He asked, happy at the fact that Hermione felt for him as he did for her, but upset that it could never be.

"I was once told exactly what was worth all that." She said, smiling.

"What then?" He questioned.

"Love."

Harry smiled at her with one of his lopsided grins and hugged her, as if the world was ending around him and she was his only chance at life. Which was true, in a way. He pulled back slightly and kissed her, and for the first time, they were two normal teenagers, without a care in the world, just being together. Little did they know they were being watched by 4 people.

"I told 'er 'Arry liked 'er...iz about time zey got together" Fleur said, as she had one arm around Bill's waist.

"They are good together, aren't they?" Bill said, kissing Fleur on the top of her head and smiling.

"Much better than we were with either one of them, right, Ron?" Ginny said, sadly smiling at the couple before her.

"I guess...but am I really that hard to get along with?" He asked, earning a quiet laugh from the group as they slowly shut the door, giving the two some privacy.