Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter/Wizarding World. They were all created by the genius that is J.K. Rowling. Pairing includes Harry/Hermione, Ron/Lavender, Ginny/Dean, and Neville and Luna.

Author's Note: Sorry that the last chapter was kinda short. Not to mention the fact that I repeated a few details a couple of times. It wasn't exactly intended neither was the fact that it was kinda all over the place. Hopefully this will go together more smoothly. I'm also taking some liberties with the fiasco relationship Harry had with Cho.

Chapter 2: Consequences

When Hermione awoke the next morning, her heart was pounding and her hands a little shaky; those weren't even the worse of her symptoms. She wasn't sure what she should do how she should act around Harry and more than that she was very confused. She'd never allowed herself to think of Harry as anything more than her best friend. There were so many things that she was afraid would happen if she let herself feel anything more for him. What if she gave herself over to those feelings and they broke up? What if one day, while he was trying to fulfill his destiny, that blind luck he was known for ran out and he was badly injured or even more horrifying what if he died. As his best friend that would be unbearable, as his girlfriend it would be utterly devastating. Of course if truth be told it would be devastating no matter. Maybe it was because of her own selfish needs she'd done everything she could to guard her heart from him. Now, well things were defiantly different, they'd changed the moment when he kissed her. She couldn't go on burying those feelings and to be honest she wasn't sure if she wanted to anymore. Especially now that she knew Harry felt the same.

Knowing that she couldn't spend the rest of the day hiding out in her sleeping quarters she decided it was time to face Harry. She took her time dressing, deciding on her favorite pale pink cashmere sweater and skinny jeans that she tucked down into a pair of chocolate colored UGG boots. She left her hair down curling around her shoulders and wore very little make up. Knowing the corridors would be cold she pulled on her grey wool pea coat and draped her scarf around her neck. Tucking her hands into her pockets she walked down the winding staircase, into the common room, and then to the great hall for breakfast. She was slightly relieved when she saw that Harry was alone. Ron undoubtedly was off in some dark corner with Lavender. As she thought it she realized that it didn't hurt nearly as bad today when she thought about it as had the night before. "Hermione," Harry said his voice a little shaky. Undoubtedly, he was just as nervous as she was.

'Hi." She said with a small nervous smile.

Neither of them really said anything to the other or at least nothing of real importance. They talked about the snow that had started falling the night before and how it had yet to lighten. They'd both ignored the obvious topic. Once they'd finished their breakfast Harry looked over at Hermione. "Would you like to go for a walk?" he asked.

Hermione nodded, "I'd love that."

They made their way outside; the courtyards were almost virtually abandoned. Most of the students were spending their Sunday in the warm common rooms of the castle, but Hermione had always liked the snow and the cold that went along with it. The crisp smell of the air and the way the snow blanketed the castle in giving it a majestic look or at least more majestic than it looked on the average day. "So are we going to keep ignoring what happened?" she asked after a few minutes.

"No." he said looking down at her. "I shouldn't have kissed you-"

"You don't have to apologize, Harry. We can both write it off as a mistake." She said cutting him off. His words hurt her, though Hermione would never let on that they did.

"No that's not what I meant." He said quickly. He'd spent the night before working out every detail that he'd say to her. He'd tell her that he was pretty sure he'd always loved her. He'd tell her that when she'd went to the Yule Ball with Krum that he was jealous beyond belief. That the reason he'd spent the night sulking wasn't because he hated dancing. It was because he wanted nothing more than to pull his wand out of his pocket and curse Krum for touching her. The memory of her in the Quidditch player's arms even to this day could bring about a blind rage in him like no other thing ever had before. Even when he was with Cho, deep down he knew that it was Hermione he wanted to be with. What made matters worse was that Cho had known it too. At the end of last year when they'd all nearly been killed on the rescue mission gone astray, in the Department of Mysteries, he was so afraid that she wouldn't recover from the spell Dolohov had hit her with. He'd never forget the feeling of happiness that he had when she'd woken up and was no worse for wear. Unfortunately, his nervousness overwhelmed him and all those things that he'd so carefully planned to tell her went right out of his head. "Just…give me a minute to get all this out."

Hermione nodded, "Go on."

"What I mean is I shouldn't have kissed you last night. You were upset and that was a truly a bastard thing to do. You mean a lot to me Hermione; I mean you're my best friend. You and Ron are the only family I have not that Sirius is gone." He raked his hand through his hair and looked down at her. He could tell by the look on her face he wasn't doing this right. "What I mean is that I don't regret kissing you. I just….I don't want it to change things between us."

Hermione blinked in confusion, "You want to be able to kiss me but you want to only be my friend?" she asked with a frown.

"Yes…well no." he said sitting down with her on one of the benches. "I want us to be friends; I always want us to be friends. That's something that I never want to change. I can tell you anything Hermione. Sometimes you do get a little preachy." He said teasingly. "Still, you wouldn't bother if it wasn't for the fact that you care deeply for me too. I want to be with you Hermione, I always have."

"Sometimes to act on want is bad." She said looking over at him. "What if something happens, these are such uncertain times."

"Doesn't that make it more important?" he asked. "If I learned anything from Sirius and Cedric it's that life is far too short."

Hermione nodded, "You're my best friend Harry."

"I love you Hermione." He said. "It's something that I can't change. I can't stop feeling this way about you and I don't want to."

Hermione closed her eyes as tears spilled onto her cheeks. "What happens if it doesn't work out? It would ruin our friendship."

"And what if not acting on it ruins it away?" he asked wiping her tears away. "For once Hermione use your heart and not your head."

"Can I think on it?" she asked.

Harry couldn't help but grin as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I would worry if you didn't you always over think." He teased her.

"Well one of us has to be highly logical." She said with a small smile.

"True." Harry said taking her hands in his. "You're like ice we should get you back inside." He rubbed them gently with his own to warm them up.

Once they were back inside they went their separate ways while Hermione went to the library to work on a paper she had due for Ancient Runes Harry headed up to the common room. He was happy to see Ron alone, since the night before he and Lavender had been like Siamese twins, attached at the lips. The last thing he wanted to do was spill his guts with Lavender there. The girl was nice enough, it was well known if you wanted something to stay secrete you didn't tell her. Harry dropped down on the couch beside of Ron. "Where's Lavender?" he asked casually or at least he'd hoped that it was casually.

Ron shrugged, "She and Parvati are off with Professor Trelawney. Honestly I don't understand what the two get out of it. That woman is defiantly off of her rocker."

"Well, we know now that she's not a complete and utter fraud." Harry pointed out. While Trelawney might have been known for her almost comical theatrics of predicting the horrific and on occasion gory demise of her students, and for that matter anyone around her, she had been on occasion to make a true prophecy. Sadly they were few and very far in-between and she didn't remember them after all was said and done. To be honest the tally stopped at two. Most people wrote her off as an old fraud; Harry himself had been one of them at one time. After having witnessed one of these prophecies himself at the end of their third year he'd changed his mind. To him she was now a partially old fraud.

"Still," Ron said he didn't share Harry's sentiments about the woman. "Where's Hermione, I haven't seen her since before the Quidditch match yesterday."

"Library." Harry said giving him a droll look, Hermione was always in the library.

"Figures…what does she get out of spending time with all those musty old books away?" he asked.

Harry shrugged; he was starting to understand Hermione's attraction for them. He'd been spending much of his time of late with his nose in a very peculiar copy of Advanced Potion-Making he'd found in the potions class. Of course it was more than just a potions book; it was so old that it was practically crumbling. It wasn't the printed text that had Harry's attention either, the person who'd owned it before him had made it into a journal of sorts. While it didn't have the Half-Blood Prince's deepest thoughts it had much more useful information. And with the Prince's help Harry was now the top of their classes in potions and had learned some very useful charms as well. It however had been a sore spot between him and Hermione. While he loved the girl deeply that book was one thing that they'd just have to disagree on. "You have to admit if it wasn't for her spending all of her time in the library we'd be screwed."

Ron nodded, "Bloody right."

"I kissed Hermione last night." Harry blurted out.

Ron blinked and looked over at Harry; he couldn't have been more stunned if Harry would've punched him in his face, "Yeah?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah."

"Good for you mate." Ron clamped his hand on Harry's shoulder. Ron had known for ages that Harry had feelings for Hermione and the other way around. He wasn't dumb to the fact that Hermione had fancied herself having feelings for him either. He just hoped that Hermione wised up and realized it was Harry she belonged with. He was tired of seeing his friends alone because they were both being stupid.

Harry was shocked, "That's it?"

"What did you expect me to say?" Ron raised an eyebrow

"I'm not exactly sure." Harry admitted, he was slightly relieved that Ron wasn't angry. Though he wasn't sure why Ron would have been angry after all it wasn't like he and Hermione had dated.

"You've always fancied her."

"You've known?" Harry asked in shock.

"Well I've got eyes don't I?" Ron asked. "I'm actually surprised that you waited this long."

"There was Krum and Cho." He said with a shrug leaving out the part about Hermione fancying Ron.

"Not if you really think about it. Hermione broke things off with Krum before he left to go back to Bulgaria. And Cho…well she's certifiable isn't she."

Harry didn't comment, while he agreed that Cho had problems he didn't like to dwell on them. To be honest he felt sorry for the girl too. "Hermione is scared that if things go badly that it will ruin our friendship."

"Isn't that always a risk?"

"I think it's more than just that." Harry raked his hand through his hair.

"With Hermione everything is complicated." Ron said.

"Did you ever…want to be more than friends with her?" Harry asked.

"She's more like a sister." He said with a shrug.

Harry nodded and leaned back against the couch watching the fire flicker.

Hermione was almost done with her paper when Ginny walked in to the library and set down in front of her. To be honest she'd drawn the work out so she wouldn't have to go back to the common room just yet. She wasn't avoiding Harry, she as just taking some time away from him to clear her mind. She wasn't exactly sure why she asked him if she could have time to think on it. Deep in her heart she knew her mind was already made up, she just needed the time to convince her brain of it. "Is everything okay? I didn't see you at the party last night or you come to bed." Ginny said pulling her books out of her messenger bag.

"Oh well…I was…." She started, she wasn't exactly sure where to even begin.

Ginny cut her off, "You don't have to say anything at all. Ron is an idiot I couldn't believe him last night. He has the nerve to lecture me about Dean." she rolled her eyes.

"It's okay Ginny…really." Hermione said then looked up. While she might not want everyone to know what was or wasn't going on between her and Harry just yet she needed to unburden her mind. Ginny was her best female friend and this was one of those times that she needed that. She couldn't talk to Harry about her feelings because they involved him. But before she laid everything bare to Ginny there was one thing she needed to know, "Do you still have feelings for Harry?"

Ginny gave her a strange look, "Harry?" she asked.

"Yes Harry, I mean you use to fancy him but you haven't said anything about him in ages." Hermione explained.

Ginny shook her head. "No nothing more than friendship, Harry was my first school girl crush. I always felt like there was someone else who had Harry's heart. Besides I don't think loving Harry Potter would be for the weak at heart. With the things he has to face, I don't know that I'm cut out to be that person. I'd rather just be a friend."

"That's what I fear." Hermione said softly.

Ginny had always known that Harry felt deeply for Hermione, it was clear in the way he'd watch her anytime she'd enter a room. "Has Harry said something?" she asked. "I mean I always thought it was Ron-"

"It was." She replied with a sigh. "Well no, if I'm being honest it's always been Harry."

"You're scared." It wasn't a question it was a statement and Ginny understood where Hermione was coming from.

Hermione nodded, "Terrified but not for the usual reasons though, normal girls who fall for their best friend have to worry about what would happen if they broke up. With Harry I have to worry about him getting himself killed. What if things go badly with You Know Who? You'd think that after six years I would have gotten use to him getting into one scrape after another but it's never gotten any easier."

Ginny studied her friend for several seconds before saying, "That's not the question you need to ask yourself. The question you need to ask yourself is, what if things go badly with You Know Who and you never worked up the courage to try to make things work. Is that something you could live with?"

Hermione was taken back she hadn't thought of things that way before and yet it made sense. "That's a very valid point."

"And if you're holding out to wait for Ron well that might never happen."

"No, I think it's more like Ron's safe." She said. "I think that's what I saw in him and that's not fair to him. I've always had feelings for Harry."

"Makes sense." Ginny agreed.

"Why does this have to be so complicated?" Hermione sighed closing her books. Ginny shrugged and started working on her homework.