Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. He is the wonderful creation of J.K. Rowling

A/N: I want to thank my beta for the amazing job she is doing, for making this story so easy to read and I want to thank my readers thank you so much for reading this

Chapter two: Feelings

That night they went back to Grimmauld Place, they found the house empty and quiet. The lights were off, and they were sure Ron was already sleeping. Instead of going to their rooms, Harry and Hermione went to the kitchen. Harry sat down at the table to watch the pictures while Hermione made tea. She looked at him and smiled – he was grinning as he looked at the pictures. To her, he also looked a little sad somehow.

She took a seat next to him and noticed that the picture he held was the one of baby Harry and James as they played with the Snitch. Hermione smiled and gently put her hand on his arm.

"You two looked so cute together, Harry. And so happy," Hermione said as she looked at him.

"I'm just sad that I can't remember this," admitted Harry. He placed his hand over Hermione's and squeezed it gently.

"I'm sorry that you can't remember this, but maybe when you have your own kids you can do the same thing," Hermione said, and then rested her head on his shoulder.

"You think so? I want a family so badly, Hermione, but I simply don't have a high chance of even living that long." Harry rested his cheek on the top of her head.

Hermione shook her head fiercely. "I will make sure that you live to have all that and much more. But I can't find you a wife – that's something you need to do for yourself."

"I don't need you to do that for me. I've already found the right girl. The one that I want to spend the rest of my life with." Harry put a finger under her chin and slowly made her look up at him "She was always there when I need her. She even went with me tonight to the place were I lost my parents, and it was her that just brought me out of the darkest place I've ever found myself in. A place I've been trying to leave my whole life."

Hermione's eyes were full of tears. She loved him with her whole heart, and she knew that. But she had never thought that he would have those same feelings for her. Harry kissed her tears away and smiled. There was no one in the whole of the world who was better for him than his Hermione, and she meant everything to him.

"I love you, Hermione, and I want to be with you forever. You are the reason that I'm happy now. You give me hope. A hope that I'm going to destroy Voldemort and put an end to everything he's put me through, put us through. With you, I feel like I have a future to look forward to." He softly caressed her cheek, desperately wanting her to understand just how deeply he loved her.

"I love you, too, Harry. I always have, but I never thought that you would ever feel the same. I never imagined that you could find words like that to say to me. If someone had told me back in school that one day you would tell me that you love me, I wouldn't have believed them even in the slightest." Hermione's eyes shone with tears.

"It took me a long time to realize that it was you who was the right person for me, but I finally did, and I'm not going to let you go, Hermione. I really can't imagine my life without you." Harry kissed her forehead and looked at her again. "Would you give me the honour of being my girlfriend?"

Hermione couldn't stop the grin that formed on her lips. "Of course I will, you daft plonker. You didn't even have to ask!"

Harry laughed, thinking that it was like a dream come true for him. He had never felt this happy before in his life. He kissed her soundly on the lips as her arms wound around his neck. Their hands and arms caressed each other sweetly as they let out the emotions they'd so long pent up. Soon they were completely lost in one another.

What they didn't know was that Ron was watching them from the doorway, smiling contentedly. He had always suspected that there was something more than friendship between his two dearest friends. He closed the kitchen door softly and made his way back to his room.

"Finally!" he exclaimed as he fell back on his bed. "It took them all this time to tell each other how they felt. I though I was going to have to lock them in a bloody broom closet to figure it out. Right gits, those two are." Ron spoke under his breath, but grinned all the while. "And they call her the brightest witch of our age."

Ron couldn't wait until the morning. He was going to have such fun teasing them and watching them together. He shook his head and laughed a little, knowing that Harry would sleep better tonight than he had in months.

The couple still sat in the kitchen, drinking their tea and talking a little. Harry found it simply impossible to stop grinning, and a smile continuously tugged at the corners of Hermione's lips.

"You know that we have to tell Ron about us," she said, remembering for the first time their red-headed friend.

"Let's talk to him in the morning. I just hope that he won't be angry. I think he's always sort of fancied you." Harry made a face.

"You know, I don't think we'll have to worry about that. I happen to know that he has been talking with Luna." Hermione smiled wickedly.

"Luna? Wow. I never imagined him with her. But I suppose they would make a good couple. She's so unusually interesting and he's so…."

"Ron?" Hermione supplied. "They'll make a fine couple, if Ronald isn't too thick to realize what he's got going for him. I think she's always been a bit in love with him, you know. Anyways, his talking to her is why he's always so happy nowadays. Even when I send him off to do some research."

Harry laughed. "I haven't noticed. But I guess I haven't noticed a lot of things lately." He squeezed her hand and gave her a loving look. Then he sighed. "Oh well. I just hope that Luna chooses a good nickname for him that I can easily tease him about."

"Who knows? Maybe Luna will keep 'Won-Won.'" Hermione giggled.

"I never noticed that you giggle," Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I don't do that very often," she replied.

"I like it. It sounds cute coming from you."

She smiled. "I do believe that you've got the sweet talk aspect of the relationship down-pat."

He grinned. "Not really. I just told you how I felt."

They spent a little more time in the kitchen, but went to bed soon after. They had an early morning and a day filled with tedious research ahead. Harry walked Hermione to her room, kissed her goodnight, then went back to the room he shared with Ron. He wished he could have stayed with her longer, but he knew that he would see her again in the morning.

Harry and Hermione fell asleep smiling. They had never been so happy before, and they didn't want the feeling to end. It was so good to have something that would make them forget about the dark times that they were going through. The wallowed in the simple bliss, knowing that a dark and mysterious journey lay ahead of them. A journey with a destination neither of them knew.