I don't own the story or the characters of Harry Potter, this work is entirely fan-made. The rights to everything Harry Potter belong to J.K Rowling. I also have no beta or proof-reader (at least not a human one) so expect some mistakes from time to time.

He stood next to Ron and Hannah, clearly the person trying his hardest not to run from the hall with panic in his green eyes. 'Oh, his green eyes!' Hermione thought as she approached. She had always loved his eyes, the way they caught the light to sparkle and made her feel less than innocent things in her loins. She was sure that he would've had plenty of basic girls throwing themselves at him, being the only person in the whole college that never spoke to anyone he didn't know. It made him seem like the dark and desirable bachelor, one that didn't interact with anyone to look tough. Neville, Hannah and Ron were present most of the time, but even then, he looked out of place, as if he was the only one made more distant with continual interaction. That just added to her attraction and infatuation with him. Then as soon as she was a few feet away, his eyes turned to face her.

It was as if she was moving in slow motion to let him capture every single one of her exquisite details. Harry noticed that she was wearing little makeup at all. All that was present was lipgloss, making this her purest look. Her torso and legs were covered in a red dress, one which fell to her feet, nearly obscuring them. He remembered her talking about this dress with Parvati and Lavender a couple of weeks ago, but he had only ever imagined what it would do for her. Harry had always noticed her looks, but since she had been at college, she seemed more conservative and drawn in than her high school uniform would allow. Tonight looked to be an outlier. The dress curved in at her waist, making his breath hitch with excitement and her hair was held in a bun at the back of her head, using a birthday gift from one of her parents. The elegance that she exuded was that of a dainty princess, but her personality, which Harry revered more than anything else about her, juxtaposed that notion. He had always known her to be a feisty force to be reckoned with, should she put her mind to the task. This last year alone, she had helped to raise money for several notable charities, all in the space of one month. She was a public supporter of as many movements as one could think of and would not hesitate to help anyone, whether they be a friend or an annoyance. Right now though, he was focussed solely on her face, the image of pure elation that was projected upon it. Her eyes lit up as she gazed into his own, though his body did not betray the need he had for her.

Hers did though.

Upon locking eyes with her best friend, Hermione had rushed over to him as fast as her flats would carry her. Crashing into him with a hug, she realised quickly what she was doing, but didn't pull away until she felt Harry's soft hands patting the material at the back of her dress. "Uhhh… Hi, Hermione. You look, uhh… Wow." Was all that Harry could muster at this point. Neville and Hannah giggled at them and looked at each other, whispering something to one another. "Harry, you really… look great. I've never seen you look so… dashing." The couple behind them chuckled again and Neville made a gesture to mimic blindness, which made his girlfriend laugh harder. "It's so great to see you. I honestly wasn't sure if you were coming, given your attitude to social events." Hermione laughed nervously, almost praying to herself that this wasn't a dream. It took the equally nervous boy huge amounts of willpower not to say something like 'Well I knew you'd be here' or 'Well I had to see you in a dress for once.' Before he could get any words out, there came a booming voice from some speakers that were set up around the hall.

"Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us tonight, as we celebrate you all moving on to higher places. Before the food is served and you dine at your designated tables-," the teacher was interrupted by Ron and some others whooping loudly for the mention of food, receiving a few laughs, "-we would like to show you all a little appreciation in the form of a slideshow." Some people, including Harry, winced and lots of people cheered as the sappy music started to play. There came a few introductory photos and then showed many pictures of various people around the college, talking, walking, learning and in Hermione's case working. A photo of her charity events was shown with her, Hannah and Harry all working tirelessly to help run the operation. A few cheers arose every other picture, no matter who they were cheering for. Hermione cringed at one photo that she never knew had been taken, the third one from the end. It had her and Harry reciting their pieces of English creative writing to a class (supposedly their English group) with vigour. Harry was clearly the more nervous of the two in that picture but was by no means shy. Hermione had poured her heart and soul into that recitation and had dragged her best friend along for it, recommending that she and Harry perform those pieces to help educate a lower year. A cheer came, then did the final two pictures, followed by claps and some sniffles. It seemed that the sappy music and the realisation that they were leaving college, never to see some of those people again was getting to a vast majority of the students. The teacher from before had clambered back onto the slightly-raised deck and began to speak again. "Now, please join your classmates at the assigned tables and places we have graciously been allowed to use tonight." He waved his hand and the doors opened, as if by magic.

It turned out that the teachers of Law and History had been holding the doors open from the inside of the dining hall, and showed the students where to sit. Harry was lucky to have civilised company at his table. To his left, Neville, to his right, Padma Patil and opposite him, was Hermione. As most of them were 18, some bordering on 19, they were allowed one glass of wine should they choose to have it with their meal. Harry decided against it, not being a fan of driving home even the tiniest bit intoxicated, though most of his table had raised a glass to each other, one filled with wine. As their meals arrived, each person started to eat with fervour, no-one being as hungry as the few people another table over. Ron had already dived into his fish, yet, unlike his normal sloppiness, he used a knife and fork properly without spraying anything anywhere. "Quite a feat Ron's managed, eh Neville?" His friends took a glance over to the table in question and all of them smiled with impressed looks. "I bet he's only doing it so that he doesn't make himself sick like he normally does. How do you manage it anyway, Harry? I know that you don't have to pay the bills yet, including the cleaning one, but how do you stand it?" Hermione chuckled out, throwing her nervous façade right out of the window. Wine, it seemed, was her weakness. 'That and untidy writing.' Harry thought with a similar expression to Hermione's. The dinner carried on with the same camaraderie that they had always shared, if a little bit more open, given the alcohol and some of them were known lightweights. Once dessert had arrived, everyone was loose and comfortable with each other, though Padma Patil kept shooting quick glances over at Leanne Roberts from the other side of the table, which everyone but the two of them seemed to notice. Whilst everyone else was talking and reminiscing, Harry and Hermione couldn't help but be drawn to each other from across their table and even they didn't know why. A jolt woke him from his gazing and he saw Neville with a hand on his shoulder, looking questioningly at him. "Are you coming to the dance hall yet?" He asked with a hint of a knowing grin. Harry looked over at Hermione in that red dress: perfection incarnate. She met his eyes and he seemed to know what she was asking. "Yeah, we'll come right away." He smiled once again, not breaking eye contact and made her blush.

Along the hall, there seemed to be a surprising number of people swaying leisurely to the soft beats given off by the speakers and the teachers were only at the exits, not interrupting anyone, as much as some of them needed to be. Neville was beckoned over by Hannah, who grabbed his hand and started a sort of dance, though, like most of the students they were just waving about like calm, untethered garden hoses. Harry was then left pseudo alone with Hermione, who looked more out of place than he normally was. Gently reaching out, he took her hand, which she (happily to his joy) didn't object to and made a sweeping motion for Hermione as if drawing her into his personal bubble of contentedness. They just melted into the throng of people already moving around the floor and for once, they were just two average faces in the crowd.

Then, after what only seemed like a half-hour, the beat started to lighten, but slow considerably. It was a dreaded slow-dance, clearly requested by someone, though they didn't know who. Hermione started to stumble, once she realised the music had changed to something more intimate and docile. Harry had caught her, though he made to walk away with her when a spot of genius hit him. This was his one shot to fulfil his criteria, his mantra: Gentleman, gentleman, gentleman. With a cautionary breath, he held out his hand, palm up, miraculously not sweating up a swimming pool and watched as Hermione had a short debate in her mind about whether she should take it. Even with the wine, her logical side won out and took his hand, letting him lightly caress the back of hers with his thumb, the most gentle of touches. They weren't the only ones dancing to the gentle music, as many couples and friends alike were swaying in the soft embrace of melody. Notable pairs included Hannah and Neville, who seemed too well-versed in this kind of dance to be first-timers, Ron and Lavender, despite Ron's verbal protest, and Padma and Leanne, who had finally opened up to their crushes, though it seemed it was obvious to everyone else. Draco and Pansy were also present on the floor, though not as much to dance, but more to show off his fancy suit and the dress that family money of his had bought his girlfriend. Hermione sighed, bringing Harry's attention back to the beautiful girl who was draped over him like a blanket on winter's eve. "What's up? I'm sorry I'm not the best at this kind of dancing if that's what it is." His voice seemed to soothe her back into a trance again. Her voice became distant and longing. "I wish that we could do this all the time, Harry. It's too bad that we don't have an excuse to be this close every day." She didn't seem to realise that her secret was all but out now, then again, she was slurring slightly. "Uh, I'm sorry, what was that, Hermione?" His voice betrayed his hope and his own longing that echoed off hers.

"I said I wish we could be this close forever."

Harry was too far into this conversation to let him pass it off as a drunken mistake. "Hermione, would you look at me for a moment? Up here?" He didn't give context to where he wanted her to look, but the only place that she would want to look at that was up from her position on his shoulder was his face. Turning her head ever-so-slightly, she saw his eyes, needy, as if she could see his very soul, his wants, desires, through those piercing iris'. "Yes, Harry?" She asked in her most innocent and surprisingly… sobered voice. He breathed carefully out, simultaneously blowing a lock of stray hair from her face and began the question that he had wanted to ask all night. "Hermione, would you consider going to dinner with me, as in a-," he cut off and stumbled over his words. At that failure, he turned his head away. "Date?" She finished for him with a breathy voice. Rotating his head and more importantly, his brain back into place, he nodded and gulped, waiting for her answer. The way he saw it, there was about a fifty-fifty shot that she would say yes, after all, they had been friends and best friends for years and he didn't want to ruin that. But it seemed as if she didn't mind this semi-romantic dance setting to settle into his embrace.

Mulling it over in her mind, Hermione wondered what had brought this on, then she saw it as if she was slapped in the face by the sudden revelation. They, together were closer than most couples. They knew everything about each other, and more. If there was anyone that Hermione had been expecting this sort of question from, it still wasn't him. She knew he thought of them as closer than anyone in his life. His Aunt and Uncle had not cared when he moved out to stay with Ron: they had called him a financial burden and a waste of space. Harry had told her almost 3 weeks after it had happened and even then, she was the only person that he told. She was practically family to him, but so were Ron, and Neville and Hannah. She was the one person who had claimed to be there forever: this statement she snorted at. How could she have been so blind back then? Now, she had a choice. There was only ever one real answer.

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Harry, for everything."

This will probably be the last time I upload for a while, as I have important mock examinations coming up in college and so I need more time to revise, practice etc. Fret not though, I will still be uploading The Dementor's Kiss weekly if my schedule allows time to upload.