CHAPTER TWO:

AN OPPORTUNITY

Harry and Hermione woke up that morning, the same time again. Neither of them said anything when both of them happened to be settling down in the common room that morning.

Hermione was joined with Ginny on the side of the stairwell. Harry walked down stairs, so full of drowsiness you could tell he got no sleep. He had lain across the couch and stared into the fire, something he did constantly when he wanted to think.

Ron was no where to be found, and no matter how much Harry wanted to, he didn't care. He had other things on his mind. He turned his head to Hermione talking with Ginny. Hermione raised her head, seeing Harry look at her and then look quickly away.

"Is he afraid to talk to me?" she asked Ginny quietly. "He keeps looking at me, then turning away as soon as I look back." She said with a sigh.

"Go..." Ginny nudged at her shoulder "Go talk to him, you know you like him." Ginny said with a smile.

"Yeah but..." Hermione started and Ginny cut her off.

"No buts!" She yelled "Walk over there with your head held high, and show him you like him. Don't be scared Hermione." Ginny smiled, continuing whispering "I know he likes you too, so don't worry." She said with a wink.

Hermione sighed; she hoisted herself out of the chair and began walking to Harry. She stopped half way there, looking back at Ginny who was waving her hands forward and back, telling her to keep going. Hermione shook her head, telling Ginny she couldn't do it.

Ginny stood up pushed her closer to the couch that Harry was now laying on. Hermione fell into the couch and Harry sat up with a jolt. Ginny quickly ran up the stairs and back into her dormitory, peeking out by a crack in the door.

"Sorry Harry." Hermione blushed, as she watched Ginny run back into her room.

"No problem, you just scared me is all..." Harry smiled gently, Hermione then didn't feel scared to talk to him.

His green eyes stared at her, while her golden eyes pressed into his. She pinched herself, she definitely was not dreaming, because she felt the pain in her wrist as she pinched it behind her back. Harry smiled and stood up.

"Can we talk...?" He paused, looking over at the girl's dormitory room, seeing it opened a little "In private?" Harry wondered and Hermione nodded.

They left the room, Harry tugging on Hermione's hand. They walked down the corridor, taking a right, down a flight of stairs, and then another right. They came across a door, that wasn't usually there, but Hermione remembered it. It was the Room of Requirement. She smiled.

"In here..." Harry said, as the door swung open, they both walked in.

The room was nicely lit by chandeliers made from candles. Hermione looked around; the light blue walls really looked well with the blackened rug. Hermione took a seat on he couch, it was made of fuzzy blue satin that matched the walls perfectly.

"Ok, so you wanted to talk?" Hermione asked, looking around still and breaking the awkward silence that was in the room.

"Yeah, I had a dream last night." Harry said and Hermione blushed. "I'm guessing you had the same one." He said, leaning against the wall in front of the couch.

"Most likely, if your scar hurt, and I screamed... then yes, it was the same." Hermione nodded, and Harry let out a relieved sigh.

"Ok, I'm not going crazy then." He said, beginning to pace himself.

Some people say,

That everything has got a place in time.

Even the day must give way to the night,

But I'm not buying.

"Harry, those dreams are telling you something." Hermione said with a sigh and she felt her cheeks grow hot.

"And if I can... What?" He asked, snapping from his personal conversation. He looked at her as he stood still.

"Look Harry, Ginny told me to come right out and say it, so I will. Those dreams are telling you how I feel about you." She said, burying her face in a pillow, not believing she even told him.

"What?" He said with a smile as he let out a small laugh for her hiding behind a pillow. "Why didn't you tell me?" He wondered.

"Because Harry... I was scared" She blocked herself more, afraid that he would kill her or something. Harry felt his heart reach his Adam's apple region.

"Scared?" He smiled, walking to her and removing the pillow from her face. "A little crush on me shouldn't make you embarrassed." He laughed, gently moving her hair out of her eyes.

"I know... I just didn't want you to know yet, I figured the dream would have sold out my secret to you." She said with a short laugh under her breath.

"Actually I thought that you would find out my secret," he muttered and Hermione turned to head quickly to him.

"What?" she asked, her heart pounded faster.

"Nothing," Harry said, backing away from her a little.

This was an awkward moment. Hermione had indeed heard him. She gave him a sweet smile. She jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. He just hugged her back. With a smile he began to speak.

"You really heard me, didn't you?" He asked as she put a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I heard you." She smiled.

Harry sat on the couch, wrapping an arm around her with a smile. She thought to herself about if this was one of her mad nightmares or not. She smiled, hugging Harry around the waist as she laid her head upon his shoulder.

"Harry, why didn't you tell me sooner?" She wondered, still hugging him.

"I guess... I never really knew it." He said as he pulled his fingers through her long wavy hair.

"You're scared?" She asked, mocking him. Harry had witnessed scary things all his life, and felt the most painful things. But he was always brave, how could he give up bravery for something so little as this?

"Not exactly but Hermione..." He started.

"Yes?" she wondered as she looked up to him.

"I will never treat you bad, cos I never want to see you sad." He spoke softly as she looked at him, his eyes gazing into hers. "I want you to know that."

Hermione's golden eyes trembled lightly, not believing that he said this.

I'm never gonna say goodbye
Cos I never wanna see you cry
I swore to you my love would remain
And I swear it all over again.

Hermione felt her heart jump. She looked around a minute as if she was searching for something. She smiled seeing nothing around, Harry looked at her. His eyes bared a slight confusion.

"What's wrong?" He wondered, seeing her look around.

"I wanted to make sure no one would disturb us, like in our dreams." She said, looking up to him with a happy look. Her eyes pricked with tears, but they were tears of happiness. Her dream was coming true, she just held Harry close.

"I know it seems kind of sudden Hermione, but I never thought I'd see you cry with happiness." Harry laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.

Harry moved closer to her, she could feel his breath upon her neck. Her cheek swayed against his as he began to whisper in her ear.

"In your eyes, I see a love that burns eternally. And if you see how beautiful you are to me, you'll know I'm not lying." Harry spoke this quietly. Hermione's tears became stronger. That was a beautiful thing; she then knew she loved him.

Harry moved his head, kissing her cheek lightly. She laid her head against his shoulder again. Harry was now being pulled onto the couch and on top of her. He looked at her, his eyes gazing madly into hers.

He once more took his hand and brushed it against her tender cheek. He moved to her closer, his lips gently brushed against hers. Hermione pushed her head up, locking her lips deeply with Harry's.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, moving her head to the side, deepening the kiss. Harry could feel her tears as they slid down her cheeks and dripped on his hand that had lain peacefully on her chest.

Harry didn't care that they were doing this. He knew he actually loved her. She loved him too, he could feel it. He slid his hands down her sides, grasping her waist lightly. Hermione broke the kiss with a small "smack" sound.

Harry kissed her cheek once more, moving back and kissing her neck briefly. Hermione giggled as she felt a light nibble upon her ear lobe. She smiled, caressing the feeling. She breathed heavily, and then Harry looked up to her, his eyes burning madly red.

"Harry?" She asked with fear. Her bottom lip was quivering.

Harry said nothing, she felt him grip her waist harder and harder. She gasped with pain, and tried pushing him off her. She felt his nails cut through her skin, she screamed. She screamed bloody murder; her voice rang throughout the halls.

"Damn it!" Hermione sat up in bed, panting. It was a dream, but luckily.

"What?" Ginny asked, sitting up sleepily as she heard Hermione wake. Hermione was still out of breath.

"Nothing Ginny, you can go back to bed." Hermione told her, trying to smile as if everything was alright.

Ginny did as she was told. She plopped over and began sleeping again. Hermione panted harder, exiting the room and making sure she woke no one else. She walked down the stairs and into the common room.

Hermione's sides were bursting with pain. She held her sides as she walked. She saw a figure on the couch and she knew it must have been Harry. It was indeed, he stood and ran to her.

"Hermione, I am so sorry." Harry said as she gave him a tearful look. She had tears down her cheeks from the pain.

"Harry, it's just a cramp, it wasn't from the dream." She said, trying to smile. Harry shook his head.

"I doubt that." He said, moving to her and moving her shirt up a little. Her sides had prints of fingernails, and deep gashes on them. Harry looked at her, feeling horrible and he sighed.

He hugged her close but Hermione backed away, what if this was the dream, and the other was real? She was confused by now, how could you tell that it wasn't a dream? She clutched her sides harder, falling to her knees with pain.

"Harry no… I don't want this anymore… you are mad!" She said crying, trying to find her feet.

"Hermione it's not me, you have to believe me… I would never do this to you. I swore to share your love and your pain, and I'll swear it all over again." He said this, Hermione felt her heart jump.

Harry took a deep breath and grabbed his invisibility cloak, the Marauder's Map, and his wand. He exited the room and into the hall. He heard the light yell of Hermione asking where he was going. Harry didn't say, just kept walking, and determined to reach his destination.

(NOTE: THIS PART IS NOT A DREAM! Thank you)

About an hour and a half later, Harry had returned. Hermione looked at him, her eyes still full with tears. Harry's face was slightly pink and sweaty. She knew by this, that he must have been in pain. She looked at him.

"Harry…" She gasped at she saw a stain of blood on his cloak. "What happened?" she wondered and Harry sighed.

"I was proving to you that I'd share your pain, so I went down to the kitchen." He said, grasping his side and Hermione cried harder.

"And?" she asked, sniffling and tears poured down her eyes.

"I grabbed a knife and sliced a mark in my side." He said gripping his side again, his hand started dripping with blood.

"Harry?" Hermione exclaimed, "Are you crazy… you don't do that to yourself, especially just to prove something to me!" She said, trying to view the gash in his side.

"Hermione… I didn't have another choice. The dreams didn't get you to believe it, so I will now." He said, grabbing her and kissing her deeply on the lips. Her head pulled away, she set her fingers frivolously on her lips.

"Harry…" Hermione gaped, she was speechless. She said nothing else; it was quiet for a long period of time. She then pulled out her wand, saying nothing but a small spell that made Harry's wound disappear. She did it to herself too, and paced a bit.

Harry stood up, she took a leap backwards, but he grabbed her hand. He pulled her around as her body swung under his arm, they were dancing. Hermione's heart leapt as her back was pushed into Harry's chest. Her eyes gleamed with tears of confusion. She felt his hands reach her waist as she started to breathe more heavily.

"Harry…" She started but she was cut off. She was about to say something, but she lost all thought as she felt a light kiss upon her neck. About ten minutes later, they walked to the couch and sat down. Hermione sat on Harry's lap, burying her face into his robes.

"I knew it!" A voice said from the stairway. Hermione and Harry pulled away from each other, standing up, and eying Ron who was standing at the top of the stairs.

"Hi." Hermione said, her and Harry were blushing madly.

"I knew it!" He repeated, laughing slightly. "I knew you guys had something going on… why didn't you say anything?" Ron wondered, still laughing at what he saw.

"Because…" Harry started, lacing his fingers with Hermione's. "At the time, we really didn't know." He said sheepishly.

"Are you mad Ron?" Hermione asked, feeling rather uncomfortable to be holding hands in front of Ron.

"Of course not, I happen to be happy with myself on the fact that I just found out what has been bugging me." He said with a laugh, Hermione and Harry looked at each other, with another laugh.

Ron walked forward to them, clapping Harry lightly on the shoulder and walked past him. Ron looked at his feet when he walked, hearing a mushy sound the carpet made. "What the hell?" he said under his breath and turned to Harry.

"Uhh… why is there blood on the carpet?" he wondered, looking at them with confusion.

"Long story…" Harry said rolling his eyes and setting an arm around Hermione's shoulders.

Ron looked at him with confusion and Harry mouthed out the words 'I'll tell you later' to him. Ron only nodded and walked back to the stairs. He gave him a wink and headed up the stairs, but stopped and turned around.

"Don't forget…" he said looking at Harry "We have potions in two hours." Harry nodded; time was going by so fast. All him and Hermione heard next was the door to the boy's room shut. They let out a relieved sigh.

"That went well." Hermione smiled, seizing Harry's hand and pulling him closer to her.

"Better then I thought." Harry said with a laugh, wrapping his arms firmly around Hermione's waist.

Hermione said nothing but laid her head upon his shoulder, moving in a slow circle. She counted it as a slow dance, Hermione smiled. She picked her head up and stared at Harry, her golden eyes melting into his glittery green ones.

"Harry," she smiled and he looked at her and she smiled brighter. "I love you." She blushed merely, but still smiling.

Harry pushed his lips into hers, the tender touch of a lip on lip bond. Harry began to move his head to the side, deepening the kiss and grasping her waist affectionately. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, falling to her back on the couch. She suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, looking at her and seeing fear lurking in her golden pressed eyes.

"This is exactly how we were in the dream, and then the marks that showed on my side..." she gasped and Harry stopped her from saying anything else.

"Hermione, it was a dream. That's all, I would never do anything to hurt you, I love you more then the world itself." He smiled with a slight shimmer of angelic – ness in his eyes. She smiled, pulling him to her closely and kissing him more.

She kissed his neck so lightly he seemed to laugh slightly because it tickled. Harry nibbled on her ear lobe delicately with small kisses on the cheek after. Hermione laid her head back, on the pillow. Harry had laid his head upon her chest, hugging her around the waist tightly.

Harry had soon fallen asleep. Too much stuff had happened that night, more things that weren't explainable. Hermione had dreamed of this day, it was even in her literal dreams, but her literal dreams seemed well, wrong.

She knew Harry would never hurt her, she knew it deep down in side. But something told her that maybe he would try and hurt her, but she couldn't believe it. It just couldn't be... Harry was the guy she had been looking for her entire life.

Here he laid in a soundless sleep under her grasp. She didn't dare move or even try, she wanted to stay here. She never wanted this moment to end, but she knew it would have to in two hour's time. Potions they wanted to miss, and maybe they could jus sleep through it, but Hermione sighed, kissing Harry delicately on the forehead and falling into a dreamless sleep.

This was it, she had no dreams. Her and Harry confessed their love and now proved to each other how much they loved one another. Were they free from their dreams? Odd it seemed but it could be true, they would just have to wait for love, for hate, for answers? Would they really have to wait for an opportunity?

Author's Notes:

Hey ya'll, here is chapter two, short and sweet. I hope you enjoy!

Song: Swear It Again - Westlife

To My Reviewers:

Naty – I still don't understand why you want to post my story. I sent you an email but I haven't received one back.

the-shadowed-one – He is a lot angrier, but he has a lot of stuff that is happy that happens too. I'm glad you like my story, I highly doubt you love it, lol.

kutekelcie – Lol, it's good to get off subject. I like when my reviewers open up to me. –wink wink- Well I think the fourth movie looks the best. I saw the trailer the other day and I said one word: BRILLIANT! Lol. It looks so real, and they did an awesome job with the graphics on task two, the mermaids look surreal! It's fantastic!

PrincessLuckyCML – Don't worry, you aren't going crazy. I have had this story up before. I got to chapter four and got only five reviews so I thought maybe if I deleted it and reposted each chapter a new week then I'd might get more :P

dreamergirl86 – I'm sorry if I confused you. I thought I explained it quite clearly… I apologize!

IaMjO – I have to agree that when Hermione hit Draco it was worth watching. That was awesome. Harry does seem much stronger now, and he had faced who actually sold his parents to Voldemort. He knows more, and that is a lot better. Me, though, I have to say the second one is the best and what are you saying by typing "the main character is usually hot?" DANIEL RADCLIFFE IS HOT! Ahem- I'm good. Lol.

HogsmeadeHunny – I see.

UPDATED: (SATURDAY) JUNE 4, 2005