Midnight, January 3, 2000, Decrepit cabin in the Forest of Dean
"Harry, come back in. We're safe." Hermione Granger, long-time friend of the "Boy Who Lived," Harry Potter, called from the transfigured couch.
The raven-haired man laughed. "Safe? Hermione, I hate to break it to you, but we haven't been safe since we entered the wizarding world." However, despite his protests, he turned and resumed his seat beside his favorite witch. Looking into the fire, he thought about what had led them to their current residence.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron Weasley, best friend of the two, had gone looking for Horcruxes during what should have been the trio's seventh school year at Hogwarts. Camping in odd locations, having too little to eat, and harboring a possessed locket made for a tough go of it, and Ron couldn't take it anymore. He left his two best friends behind, and a while later, they heard on the wireless that the Ministry had gotten their hands on him somehow.
News from Hogwarts wasn't much better. Potterwatch, a rebel-led radio program, kept the pair up to date with word from the school and from friends in hiding. Reports of defeat circled the two teenagers, leaving them desperate for some good news. Winter passed, and Harry and Hermione felt no closer to solving the Horcrux problem than they had in the summer. The excitement-filled report of Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts, being cut down by Voldemort himself, only served to make the two more nervous.
Voldemort, tired of playing from the shadows, finally entered Hogwarts as Headmaster and supposed wielder of the Elder Wand. Once he discovered the wand's loyalty lay with Draco, the Malfoy heir was also cut down. The school year ended with a majority of the muggleborn and "blood traitor" student population in hiding or missing.
The Order, also in hiding, used hidden passageways to sneak out the students they could. Neville and Ginny, among others, returned to their families and fought as much as they could from the sidelines. Without news from Harry and Hermione, the Order began to split; Remus Lupin moved his family, including Ted and Andromeda Tonks, to a hidden location. No one had heard anything from them since the summer of 1999.
Kingsley Shacklebolt led an attack against the Malfoy estate, and they took out a majority of the Death Eaters in the house, but no Order member exited the house that night, and the bodies of Luna Lovegood, Garrick Ollivander, and the goblin Griphook were found later by those sent in to search the abandoned estate.
Harry muffled a sob, or at least he tried to, but Hermione heard him anyway. She pulled him back to her and ran her fingers through his hair, allowing him to break down.
"Shh, Harry. I'm here."
"Everyone's gone, Hermione. They're all dead or gone."
Hermione winced. The Weasleys had broken apart after Ron's capture and supposed demise. The twins had closed their shop and began making weapons for the Order despite Molly's objections. The two were currently in hiding with Lee Jordan and a few others running Potterwatch and distributing their creations to those who needed them. A few had actually made their way to Harry and Hermione, though how they had arranged that, they had never figured out.
Percy had been killed in the Ministry takeover. Bill and Fleur were still hiding out at Shell Cottage; they had begged Molly and Arthur to join them, as well as Ginny when she returned home, but they had refused, citing the desire to be home in case Ron or the twins return. Charlie was still on the reserve in Romania making sure the wards around their dragons stayed strong. Voldemort alone was dangerous; Voldemort with dragons, almost unstoppable.
"Harry, look at me." Harry picked his head up and looked at his best friend. Tears had reddened his eyes; Hermione took the pads of her thumbs and wiped the tears that were still streaming down his face. "I'm still here, aren't I?"
Harry looked down. "You won't leave me, will you?" Looking back into her eyes, he stuttered, "I...I can't bear it if you leave me too."
"Never, Harry. We're all each other has right now; I could never leave you. If you want to run into Hogwarts, wands blazing, I'd try to talk you out of it, but if I can't, I'll be right behind you. You are my life right now, Harry."
Harry stared her down for a minute, long enough that she should have felt awkward. However, she returned his gaze until, unexpectedly, he leaned in and brushed her lips with his own. A chill ran down her spine as he pulled back and looked into her eyes again. "Is this okay?"
Hermione thought for just a moment; Ron was gone, and whatever they might have shared had disappeared as soon as he had walked out on them over a year ago. Her life of late had centered around Harry Potter, keeping him safe. They no longer were actively searching for Horcruxes; they were on the defensive, staying alive. Was Harry, her one constant in life, kissing her okay?
"More than I can say." She leaned back into him and kissed him a bit more deeply, enjoying the way he nibbled at her bottom life, the way he caressed her lower back, the way he pulled her onto his lap.
"Hermione," he murmured against her neck, "I love you." He looked back to her face. "I do," he insisted at her widened eyes. "It may not have started out as this kind of love, but I love you with everything I have. You're my best friend, the one who has given up everything she has just to keep me alive. Since we were twelve, you've supported me, been there, even though at times I was a git to you. If that's not love, well, I guess I've gotten it all wrong, but it's love to me."
The brunette couldn't see clearly through the tears in her eyes. "Harry, that is most certainly the best declaration of love I've ever heard. Of course, I love you. You're my everything, Harry Potter."
The two, inexperienced as they were at love and the intimacies that go along with it, decided to just enjoy one another that night, to ignore the world burning down around them, to just be in the presence of the one who loved them most in the world. The war would be here tomorrow; tonight, they just desired to feel safe with each other.