Disclaimer: I've been trying for years to trade JKR my most worldly possessions (26 cents, a rubber band, and a broken candlestick) but she still wont give me the rights to Harry Potter!

A/N: And here's the second bit of it. This is such a sappy fic ... I enjoyed writing it so much! Evil laugh Hope you do to!

FireFlies

Chapter Two

As midnight dawned she hurried down the seven flights of stairs and out into the darkened grounds around the castle. On her way out the portrait hole she had been, of course, stopped by Harry and Ginny, hands intertwined between the two, each with their own wicked smile.

Ginny had instantly begun to smooth down her hair as Harry spoke. 'We're going to take you down to the forest edge; just to be sure you get there fine. We can't be too careful anymore.'

She had sighed heavily, exasperated, nearly annoyed that their lives had been so dramatically changed. The other students were carefree and wild, while they were forced to think ahead, think of the danger behind something as simple as walking through the grounds.

But tonight she was sure she would not let anything spoil it. While she had been in her dorm she'd managed to allow herself the small, fleeting thought that perhaps tonight everything would come together and they would finally be allowed a chance at happiness after everything they'd gone through in the name of friendship together.

She had flat out refused to be accompanied through the grounds. Of course both Harry and Ginny had protested wildly but in the end she had won the battle, promising to keep her wand alight and allowing them to watch her from the common room window.

And so, there she was, the luminous green light glowing around her, the moon hanging huge in the dark night sky. She hurried, as quickly as she could, to the small hut at the rim of the Forbidden Forest where she caught her first glimpse of him all day.

He was standing, his hands stuck deep in the pockets of his faded robes, red hair blazing, even in the darkness around them. When he saw her, his nervousness seemed to ebb away, leaving, in its wake, a calming.

They met half way, just beside Hagrid's and he smiled a small smile, still crooked after so many years and she couldn't help but smile back.

He spoke first, quietly, 'this way,' he nodded, taking her hand boyishly and tugging her into the thicket of trees behind the hut.

She was completely unaware of her surroundings, focusing solely on the warmth of her hand in his. She didn't see where he was leading her, but she didn't care, she trusted him completely, and for once, she wasn't worrying about a surprise attack or wondering what terrible things might happen as they walked alone through a forest of darkness, because she knew, without seeing, that he was clutching his wand in his pocket with the hand that wasn't holding hers, ready for anything, ready to protect her. And she wasn't worried.

Finally, after a maze of tangled trees and roots he stopped and turned to face her again. 'Erm,' he suddenly turned nervous again, all of the confidence he'd felt when he'd seen her melting away as he stumbled for words, 'well, Hermione, I, er …'

He sighed and pulled his hand away from hers, letting it drop to his side. She was slightly put off, missing his touch, but she smiled encouragingly at him, coaxing him with her eyes, to go on.

'I er,' he sighed again, angrily this time, 'sorry. I wasn't expecting you to come.'

She laughed lightly, 'well, you know me, Ron. When a first year hands me a note, so nervous he might wet himself, I can't help but oblige.' She had been hoping that her joke would make him ease up a bit, feel more comfortable.

He laughed quietly, doing his best to stay calm, he tried again. 'I …' and again, he sighed, frustrated with himself. 'Here, just- I'll just show you.' He grabbed her hand again, his palm, this time, was sweaty from nerves, which she couldn't help but think was adorable.

Again, he led her off, further into the thick trees, not at far this time. After a few cautious steps forward the trees seemed to become less dense until suddenly they were standing at the edge of a small circular clearing.

They were standing side by side then and when she turned to look at him, questioning written on her face, he smiled simply and nodded into the mass of clear grass in front of them. And again, she looked at him, searching his eyes for an answer, but moving ahead into the center.

And all at once, taking her breath away was a thousand small fireflies, glowing beautifully in the darkness flew up around her, filling the clearing with their dim lights. She looked around her in amazement, in pure astonishment and glee. She'd always loved how wonderful a single firefly could seem and there, standing with a million tiny, flittering specks of light around her, she felt him behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder softly.

'I love you,' he whispered in her ear, so quietly that, if she hadn't been waiting to hear him say it for years, she would have undoubtedly missed it altogether.

She turned to face him and before she could have possibly reacted he brushed his lips gently across hers, taking her breath away for a second time that night.