Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Little note: This chapter is even better while listening to Saturn from Sleeping At Last. ;)

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

"You taught me the courage of stars before you left

How light carries on endlessly, even after death"

Sleeping At Last - Saturn

"Stop it."

Hermione's voice was just a murmur, but it was lout enough to be heard. Harry swallowed hard, disturbed by her reaction to his declaration. Of course, he hadn't thought that she would jump into his arms and profess an unconditional love – it wasn't what he wanted to be honest –, but he had thought that maybe... maybe there was a chance for her to reciprocate his feelings.

These feelings had taken a few weeks to come to life, to become real. He had spent so many quality time with Hermione and James during the last two months, and he had started to see her into a different light. Harry had first noticed how changed she was since their time at Hogwarts, something that he hadn't had the opportunity to see during the ten last years. She had fill a hole in his life, in his son's life, and he couldn't help but think that maybe something could grow between the two of us.

"Herm–"

"I said "stop it"," she repeated louder this time before swiftly getting up, taking her cup of tea with her.

Harry looked at her while she headed to the kitchen, disappearing in a second without even saying another word. With a sigh, he got up to and followed her, just to see her leaning on the kitchen sink, her head slightly bent over and her shoulders moving at the slow pace of her breath. From where he was, Harry was seeing a preoccupied woman, a stressful one who didn't know what to do with her whole life. He thought about taking a step toward her, but at the same time, he didn't want to frighten her. Frightening her was the last thing that he wanted to do.

Hermione's cup of tea was in the sink, and she was staring at it like it was her salvation. Except that Harry didn't plan to leave her house anytime soon – at least not without a discussion.

His arms crossed over his chest, he leaned on the fridge, and gathered all his courage to tell her everything that he wanted her to know.

"You can't tell people to stop talking just because you're afraid of what they are about to say, Hermione," he began, taking his time to say each word. "You can't freak out when it comes to your own feelings."

Hermione stayed still, but Harry was relieved to notice that she was at least listening to him. He went on.

"Because this is the problem here, isn't it? You are afraid because we both liked the moment that we shared a week ago. You are afraid because you realise that if I wanted you to be here with James and I, if you weren't reluctant to spend some nights with us – with me –, it was for a reason."

The only reaction that Hermione got was to shake her head. Her long and auburn hair moved around her shoulders, but the denial didn't reach her mouth; she was still refusing to talk to him.

"Please, say something," Harry sighed, waiting for a sign from his friend. "I feel something for you, and even if I couldn't properly explain what it is... I know that it's here, and that I can't hide it any longer."

A minute passed, and Harry was starting to think that nothing would be enough to make Hermione talk at this point. But, while he was loosing the last glimpse of hope that he had left, she slowly turned around, and he eventually met her eyes – her eyes full of tears that didn't seem to want to fall onto her rosy cheeks. The first thing that the green-eyed wizard thought about was to take her into his arms and to ask her if everything was alright; but given the situation, he decided to wait for her to talk to him; which she did after a few moments.

"There is something that you seem to deliberately forget, Harry," she muttered before wiping her eyes as if nothing had happened. "I cannot do this to Ginny. I cannot tear a family apart just because, for a second, some feelings came out of nowhere and overwhelmed me. We were not supposed to be together in the first place, Harry. You did what you needed to do when you married Ginny, and you two have a beautiful son. I just can't do this to James, to Ginny... or to you," she concluded in a breath.

"Ginny is out of the picture," Harry insisted, just to see Hermione shake her head vehemently.

"No, she's not. She is training, Harry, she is supposed to come home in a few weeks, and then again at Christmas, and in June, everything will be fine between the two of you," she explained, but Harry noticed how much it costed her to say these things; her voice was hoarse, as if she was doing her best to retain her tears, but she went on nonetheless. "You are just thinking that something can happen between us because you feel lonely; because you want her to be here, and she's not. And trust me when I say that I totally understand what you are going through, but..."

Hermione paused for a second, seeking for air, her eyes closed for a fraction of second. She was determined when she opened them again.

"But you can't come here and make me believe in things that aren't going to happen in a near future, or in the future at all. It's not how friendship works, Harry."

"We are not just friends...," Harry muttered, defeated by what she'd just said.

Was she right?, he thought. Was he acting like a jerk because he wanted to find a replacement to Ginny? All things considered, everything was alright between them until his wife decided to leave without even a proper explanation, without any forerunner. She had taken her decision alone, and for that, Harry had been resentful – and he still was. Was it a reason enough to leave her though? Probably not. But being in love with someone else could be, and he knew it.

Inwardly, he knew that Ginny's absence wasn't the reason why he wanted to be so close to Hermione. Even if he knew that it was forbidden, that it was wrong to feel like this toward her, he couldn't help but feel these things. The kiss that they had shared had made him realise that he wanted Hermione to have another place in his life, to be something different than just a friend.

Her chestnut eyes were staring at him, and he didn't know what to say or do to make her realise that he wasn't playing with her.

"I don't think that it is a good idea for us to see each other so often," Hermione said, not giving him the opportunity to explain his feelings any further.

"What?," Harry interjected, his green eyes wide open.

Hermione bit her lower lip, a little frown on her forehead.

"We can't let it happen," she explained softly. "I can't let you do this to your family."

"You are not the problem, Hermione, please understand that. I don't want to lose you."

"You will not lose me, I promise. It's just... I need some space to think about it, about what we share. It's not a healthy relationship that we are sharing. Look... I am at your house almost three times a week, I learned to take care of James like he is my own son, while we both know that it's not the case. We eat together, we go to the park sometimes together, like the perfect family. What would people think of it? Most of the time, we are in public in the Muggle world, but what if it happen on Diagon Alley for example? What do you think people would say about us in the newspapers? It will destroy your family, it will destroy the Weasleys..."

"My family is already a ruin, Hermione. Like I said, you are not the problem. The problem is between Ginny and I..."

"And you'll find a way to figure it out," she interrupted him with a sad smile. "She will be back in three weeks if she managed to have her authorisation, right? I'm sure that things will be better once she'll be here."

Hermione nodded, as if she wanted to persuade herself that Harry and Ginny could find a way to be back together without too much damage.

"Stop this nonsense, Hermione, you know that there is no way for us to start again like nothing happened..."

"It's not a reason for me to interfere in your life," she explained calmly, as if she wasn't moved by what Harry was saying to her. "I am your friend, Harry, and I need to do what is better for you."

"Don't you dare say that you know what is the best for me," Harry warned her, disenchanted by this discussion with the person he thought was feeling the same toward him.

Hermione took a few steps in his direction, and hesitated during a second – could she take his hands between hers or not? –, but eventually, she just stared at him.

"You need your family. James needs his parents," she muttered, her voice almost breaking at the end of her sentence. "That is what you really need," she concluded, echoing what Harry had said to her back in the living room.

"And what do you need, Hermione?," Harry insisted, his hand caressing her left cheek, forcing her to close her eyes not to show him how moved she was by his proximity.

"I need you to be happy," she whispered, wanting this moment not to end anytime soon.

Unfortunately, Harry eventually let his hand leave Hermione's face, and he nodded.

"I just have another question," he said, and she looked up at him.

"Yes?"

"What do you want, Hermione? What do you want for yourself? For once, don't think about anyone else, just think about you and what you truly desire," Harry asked in a low voice.

What would he do if she said that she wanted him, that she wanted to build a relationship with him? Talking to Ginny would be the first thing to do, of course, along with finding a way to spare James too much stress. After all, his son was the one he needed to protect.

Hermione tried to avoid his gaze, but she eventually gave up. What Harry read into her chestnut eyes was the answer that he needed the most: she wanted him, it was obvious. She wanted to start something with him, she wanted to give them a try, she...

"You should leave, Harry. It's getting late, and if you don't wake James up now, he would not be able to sleep properly tonight," she quickly said before heading to the kitchen sink and put some water into her cup of tea.

"You can't do this, Hermione, not now...," he sighed out of despair.

Harry was just seeing her back, but he knew that she was doing her best not to say the only thing that could change their lives forever. He realised then that it was just a matter of bad timing. Why hadn't he seen before that Hermione was more than Hermione, that she was a brilliant woman who could be the one for him? Why was he married, for Merlin's sake? He loved Ginny, yes, and he was aware that she had given him an amazing son, but the feelings that he had for his wife couldn't be compared to what he was feeling for Hermione right now; Hermione wasn't the one who had left him, Hermione wasn't the one who had ran away without even thinking about his feelings or James' ones.

"Please, Harry," she insisted in a whisper, still not looking at him.

He waited for what seemed to be hours, but eventually, he gave up.

"Alright. Good evening. You know where I live if... if you want to talk."

Hermione didn't say anything back, and she just listened to him while he headed to her bedroom to pick James up. A few moments after, she heard the usual sound of Apparition, and she finally bursted into tears, letting herself slide on the floor, her arms around her knees.

"You did the best thing, you did," she muttered to herself during hours, trying to convince herself of the thruth of her words.

But it wasn't enough for her to forget the pain that she was enduring.

Wow, a chapter two days after the last one? I guess that I deserve a bunch of reviews, right? :D

Thank you to everyone who took a few moments to write me, it is always a pleasure to read your thoughts about this story. Some of your remarks really help me to see this story through other eyes, and, trust me, if you weren't there, this story would be really different. Every insight helps me to improve this story, and so far, the path that I'm taking with these characters right now is different from what I thought in the first place.

So don't hesitate to let me know what you think. It is amazing to read so many different opinions.

See you soon.