Random Hermione Pairings

By Kittykat2005

Disclaimer: I own nothing here, except for the plot, and even that's probably been used by somebody already.

Hermione Granger was quietly studying in the Gryffindor common room. The N.E.W.T.s were coming up in a few weeks and she was frantically trying to cram in every last bit of information she could find. Every day she would wake up at seven, have breakfast, and then head off to the library where she would stay until dinner, when she would eat a quick supper and then return to the library to check out three or four books that she would speed-read back in the common room.

She had just finished the last book she had checked out earlier, and was getting ready to head up to her dorm for a few hours of sleep until she would wake up and her whole routine would start all over again. She had just gotten her foot onto the bottom step of the girls' dorms when she heard someone call her name.

"Hermione?" a soft voice asked. Hermione jumped, she hadn't realized that anyone else was up this late. She had been too wrapped up in her studies to notice anything besides her books. Hermione turned around, looking for the voice that had spoken to her.

"Harry? What are you doing up this late? Are you alright? Did you have another vision? Was Ron snoring to loud?" Harry chuckled at the last part.

"Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to come down here to check on you. I know you haven't been getting enough sleep lately and I was worried."

Hermione smiled at him. He was so kind and caring and sweet…no wonder she had fallen in love with him. "I'm fine Harry; I was just heading up to bed. I've studied enough for tonight."

Hermione moved from where she was standing by the girls' staircase, over to the couch in front of the fire where Harry was now sitting. She sat down right next to Harry, curling her legs up behind her and leaning against his broad, strong-yet-soft shoulder. Harry then wrapped his arm around her thin waist as they sat there, watching the fire die down.

Since Sirius had died two years ago, Harry and Hermione had gotten a lot closer. Harry had needed someone to lean on and talk to and Hermione had been there for him. Since then they were barely ever apart, sometimes with Ron there too, but other times it was just the two of them.

Hermione began thinking about when she had first realized that she was in love with her best friend. It had been in their fourth year, right before Cedric came out of the champion's tent to battle the first dragon. Charlie Weasley and a few other people had brought in the first dragon. Even though Hermione was aware that the first task was to be dragons, Harry having told her, when the Swedish Short-Snout was brought into the arena, Hermione started hyperventilating. She was so concerned about Harry, the dragons were huge, and you couldn't really understand how large they were by reading about them from a book.

She had been so thankful that Harry had survived, mostly unscathed, she had burst into tears. And the night of the third task, she had been more terrified for Harry than she had been for anything else in her entire life. You could ask Ron, after Harry and Cedric disappeared from the maze, Hermione kept her face buried in his shoulder until they came back.

Harry shifted his weight slightly, startling Hermione out of her thoughts.

"Are you alright there? It seemed like you got lost in your thoughts for a moment." Asked Harry, sounding amused.

"Oh yes, I'm fine." Replied Hermione, "I was just thinking…"

"May I ask what about?"

"Oh," Hermione blushed. "Nothing important, just…you know…about…us."

Harry smiled. "I was just thinking about us too. About how we met and stuff."

"Well that wasn't exactly what I was thinking about, more about fourth year…"

Harry frowned slightly, remembering the Third Task. "Yeah…I remember that too."

"Oh no Harry," Cried Hermione, "That's not what I meant, I was just thinking about the better times, like when we found Dobby working in the kitchens, or after you got the egg from that Hungarian Horntail, or just days when we were relaxing in the common room or outside. Oh! And the Yule Ball, remember that?"

"Yeah, I remember, but for me, the Yule Ball wasn't all that exciting. I mean, I just went with Parvati so that I wouldn't look like a dork without a date. It would have been more fun if I had gone with someone who I actually liked and got along with, like you."

Hermione stopped breathing. Did he mean what she thought he meant? She decided to find out. "Wh-what do you mean?" she said, slightly out of breath.

"Well, you know you're my friend and we get along so it wouldn't be uncomfortable trying to start a conversation because it comes so naturally for us."

Hermione's heart sank, but she tried to smile at him. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings, but it was obvious to Hermione that Harry would never love her as anything more than a friend, and it broke her heart.

Harry, on the other hand, seemed to be having an inner struggle with himself, as if he was trying to make up his mind about something. Suddenly he blurted out:

"No- that's not true, that's not why I would like to have gone to the Ball with you. It's just that if I tell you the real reason, you'll hate me and never want to speak to me again!" He had said all of this very fast, and if it hadn't been for her older sister talking at about the speed of sound, Hermione didn't think she would have caught all that.

"Harry," Hermione stated in a very serious voice, "Nothing you ever do or say could make me hate you. I love you." As she was thinking: 'though not exactly in the way you think I do.'

This seemed to give Harry some courage, as he sat up a little straighter, though he looked just as nervous as before. "Okay, well what I meant when I said I would rather go with you, because I like you as a friend is…that…well…Ilikeyouasmorethanafriend."

Once again, Hermione having phenomenal hearing, thought she understood what Harry had said, but that couldn't be it, had he really said that? "What, Harry, did you just say that…that you like me –I mean like me like me? Why –no how is this possible?"

"Well, I don't know, maybe it's because you're so kind and caring and sweet and funny and pretty"… Suddenly Harry realized what he was saying and immediately clamped his mouth shut and turned red-apple red.

"Harry," said Hermione, in disbelief that dreams really did come true, was having trouble speaking. "I don't really know what to say." Harry's face fell; he looked as if he had lost his puppy. "Except that I feel exactly the same way!" finished Hermione.

Harry glanced up sharply. He gave her a weary look as if he wasn't sure whether she was joking or not. "That's not funny Hermione, I'm being serious."

"As am I Harry, I can't believe that you would think I would joke about something like this." Hermione said, sounding hurt. Her tone of voice must have made Harry realize that Hermione was telling the truth, because he looked up hopefully at her.

"Ar-are you sure? Because I mean I don't want to say anything because you feel pressured to or you don't want me to feel bad. You-you really like me?"

Yes Harry, I really, really like you. No -never mind," and Harry's face fell for a second. "I love you, Harry, for now and for always."

And at those words Harry and Hermione settled themselves further into the comforts of each others arms, never to leave each other's side.

Hey you guys! I'm really sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter up; I've had a busy month! All of my friends have decided that they don't like me anymore (for various reasons, most of them being their stubbornness and innate stupidness that they wont listen to me) so I ditched them & I have new, better friends now!

I would like to say thank you so much to my reviewers:

howdy: Here's the next chapter! That is really a good idea, but I probably wouldn't put her with Lockhart! Think of the drama!

chuxter: Thank you so much for reading! That would be really interesting putting her with Reamus! I'll definitely think about it! I would love to read your fanfic!