Something More: Chapter 3: Crying, Sleeping, and Cereal.

Hermione stood with her arms around Harry for 5 minutes, and finally, Harry began to squirm. After she released him, Harry looked her in the eyes for a few moments, then turned around and headed back into his apartment. Hermione stood on the threshold, puzzled, then shut the door quickly. He's even worse than I imagined, she thought. This is going to take some hard work.

Harry had already sat back down on his couch. He stared at the wall, and seemed to be ignoring Hermione completely.

"Well?" she asked. She sat herself into the chair across from the couch heavily, and Harry made eye contact with her. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry... I..."

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. It's.... this is terrible. What happened to you?" She was kneeling in front of him, and she placed a friendly hand on his cheek.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Nothing happened to me. I just... lost the love of my life."

Hermione shook her head. "Harry, do you own a mirror? Look at yourself. You're bone thin, there are huge dark circles under your eyes, your shirt looks like it hasn't been washed in a month, and... You're crying..." Hermione said no more, for Harry had a single tear rolling down his cheek. Instead, she sat back down across from him and put her head in her hands.

Seconds later, Hermione felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and Harry was standing behind her, rubbing her shoulder. Hermione leaned her head against his chest, and hugged him backwards.

They stood, and sat, in their awkward position, for an hour. Soon after they started, Hermione began to cry too, and Harry became the one comforting. After their hour, they sat down on the couch together and began to talk.

"I think you know what happened to me," said Harry. "But what happened to you?"

Hermione sighed, and pulled Ron's letter from the pocket in her jeans. She had read it so many times that she had it memorized, but she didn't feel like reciting it for Harry. She handed it to him.

When Harry was finished, he crumpled the letter in his hand. "Bullshit," he said.

Hermione yelped and grabbed the letter from his hand. "Don't!" she shouted. "It's all I have left of him! Of his love!"

"Bullshit," Harry said again. "What good is a letter, especially a letter of lies? He doesn't want you to be happy. If he did, he'd have stayed, because he knows that you won't be whole, or happy without him."

"I...I..."

"Exactly," said Harry. "You can't reply to that. I've had 6 weeks to think about love, and I've decided... It isn't worth it."

"No, don't say that Harry. It is worth it. And some day, it will be our turn."

Harry rolled his eyes, and headed for his bedroom. "Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"To the shower," said Harry and he closed the door behind him.

Hermione sighed, and stood up. She headed towards the kitchen and looked through the fridge. It was empty of most necessities, like milk and butter. She shook her head. She'd drag him along with her to the grocery. He needed to gain some weight.

Hermione sat herself at the kitchen table and leaned her head on her arms. She thought about her revelations to heal, and wondered if Harry could make the same choices. Soon, she closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

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Harry felt the warm water roll down his back, and beat against his head. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and leaned his head back, so that the water beat at his eyelids. Harry smiled. It felt good to be clean, for he hadn't showered in at least 3 days. But more than that, it felt good to have a friend. Someone he could rely on again; someone to laugh with...eventually, because he didn't think that he could laugh just yet.

Harry finished washing the soap from his hair, and turned off the faucet. After drying himself with the same towel he'd been using over the past 6 weeks, he put on some clothes, and sat on his unmade bed. He sighed, and leaned back. He was exhausted. It occurred to him that he should be in the living room with Hermione, but the thought slipped through his mind.

Soon, he was fast asleep.

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The two friends slept; Hermione in the kitchen and Harry on his bed, for 12 hours. When Hermione awoke she found Harry on the couch, in the living room. He had the Daily Prophet lying open on his knees, and a cup of coffee on the table. Hermione pushed her chair back from her table, and it made a loud, squeaking noise when it was moved.

Harry looked up from his paper, and half-smiled at Hermione. Well, she thought. If that's the best he can do. She smiled back at him, and sat down on the couch next to him. Then it occurred to her how late it must be. She looked around for a clock and found one above the fireplace. It read 4:35. Hermione frowned. She couldn't have slept 24 hours. She walked to the window and opened the curtains. It was dark outside, which made more sense, because she had arrived at Harry's at about 4:20 in the afternoon.

She sat back on the couch and said, "I slept for 12 hours. What have you been doing?"

Harry didn't look up from his paper, but replied, "Sleeping as well. I've only just woken up."

Hermione nodded, but realized that Harry wouldn't have seen, so she said, "Right."

Harry didn't acknowledge her, or say anything. This made Hermione angry, so she stood up quickly and headed for the door. "Well... Bye."

Hermione didn't hear a reply, so she opened the door. But before she knew it, Harry had grabbed her by the hand, and pulled her back in. "I'm sorry," he said. "I just haven't read the news in like a month." He grinned sheepishly, so Hermione sighed and sat back down on the couch.

"Would you like anything to eat? Or drink," he asked, heading for the kitchen.

"I would, but I don't think you have much Harry." She replied.

Harry opened the door to the fridge, took a 3-second look inside and frowned. "Oh," he said. "I didn't know I was running so low on food. Would you like to go out somewhere?"

Hermione laughed. "Harry, it's four in the morning. Nothing will be open." Hermione had thought Harry might laugh at his mistake, but he didn't. Instead, he headed over to the pantry. "I found some cereal," he said. "Is that all-right?"

Hermione nodded and took a seat at the table again. Harry put the cereal on the table and frowned. "No milk," he said. Hermione told him it was OK, and so they grabbed handfuls of cereal to satisfy their hunger.

As they sat at the kitchen table, eating cereal without milk, conversation came easy, but with some speed-bumps. Neither Harry nor Hermione could talk about anything that might remind them of their love lost, so subjects like Hogwarts, the hunt for horcruxes, and of course, most of all, The Weasley's were off limits.

Hermione found that as she sat with Harry, Ron had completely slipped from her mind. She felt happiness, and true contentment for the first time a while. But more importantly, she hoped that Harry felt the same. For a reason strange to her, she genuinely wanted to be the one to bring Harry back alive: like it was written in her fate to bring him back.

When the cereal ran out, Harry and Hermione sat back on the couch, and sighed at the same exact moment. This made Hermione laugh and Harry to half-smile again. Hermione stared at his smile and the wrinkles that formed around his mouth when his lips curved upwards. It was a cute look for him, albeit a depressing one. Then Hermione found herself staring at Harry's face for several minutes, and noticing the shape of his eyes, his chin and his noise. She saw the jet-black color of his hair, and that it was, as always, sticking up and out in familiar disarray. Then she looked back at his eyes, and found their green to be strikingly beautiful. They were deep and inviting and she closed her eyes, imagining herself falling into their emerald depths.

"Stop." Hermione looked away from Harry and found she was hyperventilating. What the hell was that? She asked herself. I do not find Harry attractive. He's my best friend... and...

But Hermione couldn't finish her thought. Harry was tugging at her arm and it sent a shock through her body. His touch made her happy. "STOP." She said again.

Harry, with a shocked look on his face, held up his hands in surrender. "Are you OK?" he asked her. Hermione nodded and stood up.

"I should go," she said. Harry shook his head pleadingly.

"Don't leave," he said. "I need you."

Hermione nodded and sat back down on the couch.