Previously:
"Oh Harry, I'll always be your best friend." And on an impulse fueled by gratitude and perhaps even love, she quickly kissed Harry on the cheek.
"You'll attend classes on Monday together."
She saw him bending down over her in the second before her eyes could no longer stay open and just before she fell asleep, she felt him gently kiss her forehead.
Harry enjoyed the feeling of the wind in his hair for a time while fling, and finally descended at the entrance of Hogwarts near sunset. He put his broom over his shoulder and returned to the hospital ward. He quietly opened the door to find Hermione awake, sitting on her bed and surrounded by books. She had two small hinged medallions sitting on the chair before her and on the floor beside the bed were two bubbling cauldrons. He wasn't sure where she'd gotten them from - perhaps Madame Pomfrey had let her borrow them. He stood still, content to watch her work on… whatever she was doing. He watched her stir the cauldrons a few times, consult one of her books, and pull out a knife. He saw her place the blade on her palm and rushed forward.
"Hermione?" he called, startling her. The blade cut deeper than she had intended and she winced in pain. She kept from breaking her concentration, however, and carefully let three drops of blood fall into the nearest cauldron.
"Harry!" She admonished as she stirred the new mixture, "Don't scare me like that. I can heal cuts, remember?" She said as she quickly cast the salutom spell before the blood dripped onto anything else.
"You scared me too," he insisted. "You need to keep all the blood you have inside you so that you can get well."
"It's three drops, Harry," she said, "but I appreciate your concern. Now give me your hand… I have to do the same for you."
"What? Why? What are you making?"
"Trust me, Harry. You'll like the final product," she insisted as he held out his hand. He refused to look but he hardly felt the sharp knife cut his palm, Hermione was so careful. She grabbed his arm and held his hand over the second cauldron until three drops of blood had fallen into it. She quickly healed his hand and stirred the cauldron so that they both were bubbling with red froth. Then she took the medallions and dipped one in each, then switched them to the other cauldron for one dip. She pressed one into Harry's hand while she took the other in hers.
"Hold it until it glows, okay?" He nodded. Simultaneously, both medallions glowed a bright gold and then faded.
"Now… what is this?" Harry asked, looking bemusedly at the medallion in his hand.
"Remember how you wished you had a way to make sure I'm okay and for me to make sure you're okay? I found a way. These medallions are keyed in to each other's blood - yours to mine and mine to yours. Inside your medallion are two buttons. One checks on me and shows you my vital and mental state on the other side of the medallion. It'll let you know if I'm hurt, sick, sad or whatever. You can set it on an alarm for certain conditions, I think. The other button on yours makes my medallion alert me that you need me along with your location and I'll come find you. Mine has the same set of functions for you." She barely paused for breath before continuing.
"Now if you have a nightmare, I'm never out of your reach. If you're worried about me, you can find out how I am immediately and you can contact me whenever you have a nightmare and we need to talk." She saw his face contort a little and could tell he was reluctant to wake her for something like a nightmare.
"But…"
"Harry," she admonished firmly but gently, "if you need to see me, you need to see me. I understand if you need to wake me up in the middle of the night. If you're having a nightmare, I want to be there for you, even at the cost of lost sleep. I care… I care for you, Harry. I want you to be happy and I know you're not happy if you're worried or upset. You don't have to be ashamed of your nightmares. I have my own sometimes and I've wished you could be there for me and now you can, just as I'll be there for you. It's as much for me as it is for you, now put it on!" she said, glossing carefully over her admission of caring for Harry like that. He noticed and smiled widely while Hermione blushed.
They put their medallions on and were connected briefly by a golden light which faded quickly.
"There. Now, let's see if it worked," she said, taking hers in her hand and flipping it open. She pressed the button to see Harry's status and in Hermione's handwriting appeared: Harry Potter Vital: Healthy, slightly fatigued, hungry. Harry Potter Mental: Happy, amazed, caring, worried.
"What are you worried about, Harry?" Hermione asked, her brow furrowing.
"Well, you for one. I suppose until you're completely healed it'll show that reading," he said making Hermione smile gently.
"Harry, listen to me. I'm fine. See for yourself," she said, tapping the medallion on his chest. He took it in his hand and opened it. It appeared identical to Hermione's but without the neat line of script. He pushed the button for Hermione's status. Hermione Granger Vital: Unwell, healing, tired, full. Hermione Granger Mental: Self-satisfied, optimistic, caring, relieved.
"Hermione, it says you're unwell and tired." Harry looked at her in concern. She didn't appear to be in pain. Her obvious confusion abated after some thought.
"I'm sure it's detecting the pain in my joints and hand. Those won't go away for a while. They don't bother me too much." Harry clearly didn't buy her excuse.
"Perhaps you should lay down so they don't bother you at all," he said. She smiled in resignation and lay down.
"I think I might have made those things too well," she grumbled, a smile playing about her lips. Harry took another look at the inscription. Upon reading that Hermione wasn't feeling good, he'd stopped paying attention to the medallion.
"What were you relieved about?" He asked, mirroring her previous question.
"I was relieved that the medallion worked, and that you agreed to wear it and to use it to contact me if you have a nightmare. You will, won't you?" She asked, looking at him pointedly from the bed.
"Yes… I will," he replied, giving into the fact that she wouldn't let him off the hook until he promised.
"Good. Now I won't have to worry about you at night anymore."
"You worried about me?" He asked, genuinely surprised.
"Of course I did, Harry. Do you think I didn't notice when you hadn't gotten any sleep? Even when you weren't falling asleep at breakfast I could tell. I was worried that you weren't sleeping well but you refused to say anything or get any help."
"I didn't mean to worry you…" he mumbled, embarrassed.
"Don't, Harry. It was my choice. It was my choice to worry about you and to care about you and there's nothing you can do to change it." She was blushing, but kept her eyes locked on Harry's face all the same.
"Hermione…" He knelt beside her bed. She turned her head to look over at him, her eyes wide with anticipation. He seemed to be struggling with words, so Hermione held her breath and waited.
"I'm… confused." That wasn't what Hermione was expecting. She raised her eyebrows and waited for him to continue.
"I care for you, a lot. I don't understand it, though. I've never felt anything like this before and I don't know what to do. My medallion could probably tell you I'm terrified but I don't know what else."
"Why are you scared, Harry?" Hermione asked in a whisper.
"Because I like you." Hermione's heart was racing.
"Why would you be afraid of that? You know I like you. You know I care for you," she said with a gentle smile.
"I… don't know really, why I'd be afraid of that. I guess I'm not used to it is all, and I don't know what to do about it," he mumbled. Hermione looked at him sadly. Harry was so unfamiliar with love that he didn't know what he was feeling or how to show it. In short, he was scared and miserable being so out of his depth. She mentally cursed his relatives for withholding love from him.
"We can work on that, Harry." She said as she reached out and took his hand. "But the way you've been so far, you're doing just fine." He smiled, looking hopefully at Hermione.
"Do you think so?"
"I know so. Generally when you like someone you take care of them when they're hurt, you worry about them when you're apart, and you're happy when you're together."
"Well, all that certainly fits," Harry said, gently squeezing her hand. "So what do we do now?" He decided to take his lead from Hermione. He'd seen other couples kiss and such, but he didn't want quite what those couples had. They never seemed to connect the way he and Hermione had done. That, and they never lasted. The two would often fight for months afterwards. Harry knew his worst nightmare at the moment would be to lose Hermione and he certainly wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't dare do anything that might drive her away.
"Well…" Hermione said pensively, "I'd really like for you to hold me. I am feeling sort of sleepy." Harry smiled gently at her and sat down on the bed beside her. He helped her sit up while he sat down behind her and carefully leaned her back against his chest. He wrapped his arms gently around her body and held her close, breathing in her familiar scent. She sighed as she relaxed her sore body into his embrace.
"Thank you…" she murmured sleepily. Harry's warm presence soothed her aches and pains and she soon drifted off to sleep. Harry just smiled widely as his best friend relaxed more deeply and her breathing became even as she fell asleep.
She IS my best friend, Harry thought. But if we can be more… I think I'd like that a lot. When she wakes up I'll ask her if she wants to be my girlfriend.