A/N: Just in case it wasn't clear in the previous chapter, Harry's name was NOT put into the goblet.

Also, thank you to Same as Smithback for the advice! More information on how things are the way they are will be sprinkled throughout the coming chapters, and I wanted to leave some room for the imagination to figure it out untill it is detailed. But if it's confusing I can most certainly add more detail! :D

And thank you to nat.raabova and muzzarae for the replies! I completely agree with you guys- I'm mean, even JK Rowling wished she put Harry and Hermione together!

Chapter 7: Another Step

Hermione slowly picked up her wand, eyes still trained on her book as she flicked her wand to check the time. 8:26pm. Looking across the table, she found Harry snoring slightly with his head hanging off of the back of his chair.

Even sleeping he looks like a dream.

Hold on, since when did I start noticing how he looks when he sleeps? She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Focus, Hermione.

"Harry," she called, getting up to shake him awake. His eyes opened sleepily, green orbs immediately capturing her attention. "We have about an hour and a half untill curfew. Do you still need help on your potions assignment?"

"Desperately," Harry muttered, sitting upright as he sifted through his assignments in search of his potions essay parchment.

9:42pm.

"Ugh. Finally!" He exclaimed, aggressively adding a period to his last sentence and dropping his quill dramatically. "Thanks for the help, 'Mione. Did you already finish your homework?" Harry turned to face her, resting his face against his palm.

"Most of it, yes. I just have a few assignments that I'm going to finish before I go to sleep."

Harry quirked an eyebrow. "Are you sure you aren't going to be up untill the crack of dawn like last night?" He could tell that Hermione was beyond exhausted, and he knew how rough it is to get through a whole day of classes when you want nothing more than to curl up in bed. And she hadn't fallen asleep in a single one! It was quite a feat.

A small smile crept into her expression as she packed her book bag, brunette curls dancing while she shook her head. "No, I'll be fine."

Harry slung his now-packed bag onto his shoulder, Hermione doing the same as they left the Room of Requirement to go back to their dorms. "Whatever you say."

"Rude." She smirked, eyes shining in the dimly-lit hallway. "Remind me to never help you with your assignments."

He clasped his hands together, exclaiming, "No, please, I beg for mercy!"

Hermione laughed, causing Harry to grin boyishly. That laugh always seems to brighten the whole castle.

Later that night, Harry laid in bed as he replayed the way Hermione's face lit up when she smiled. There was no doubt that the girl was pretty; of course Krum was crushing on her!

A pang of jealousy arose in his stomach at the thought of Hermione and Viktor together.

Get a grip, Harry! He chastised himself. There is no way she likes you; especially not with Krum drooling over her.

"Ahh. Finally the weekend has come!" Harry grinned, greeting Hermione as she entered the common room.

"Yes, it is quite a nice day." She smiled back sleepily, sitting next to Harry on the sofa.

"What shall we do this fine evening?"

"Hmm. We could go check out the room again. I'm curious to see if it changes."

"Let's go then!"

Well he is in a good mood, she mused, smiling at his goofy demeanor as she followed him out of the Gryffindor tower.

They stopped in front of the wall, waiting as the entrance materialized from the bricks.

Harry opened the door, gesturing for Hermione to step through first.

The room looked similar to how it did previously, except this time the bookshelves disappeared. Instead, a mysterious yet compelling book sat in the middle of the table. She stepped up to inspect it, eyes darting over the cover in search of the title.

"That's odd. There isn't a title." Harry stood close enough to Hermione for her to feel his body heat, causing her heartbeat to quicken slightly.

"Yes. It is quite odd." Anticipation and nervousness caused her fingers to shake as she hesitantly opened the book, finding the pages empty. "What the-?" Hermione desperately flipped through the book as Harry's eyebrows furrowed in concentration, watching as not even a single dot of ink presented itself on any page.

He thought for a moment, recalling Snape using a spell to try to reveal what was on the Muraders Map last year. "Wait, whats that one spell that shows secrets?"

"Oh! Good thinking, Harry. Aparecium," Hermione recited as he grinned at her praise, words flooding onto the parchment she held with one hand.

The title also appeared, seemingly writing itself in golden letters. Everything About Horcruxes.

"What the heck is a Horcrux?"

"I suppose we will find out. But I think it would be best to finish reading Playing with Time, that way we don't get overwhelmed with information. Honestly, my brain feels like it is going to explode at any moment."

He laughed, pulling up the chairs so they could sit. "I completely agree."

Hermione took Playing with Time out of the bag she had grabbed before they left, setting it in-between Harry and herself.

Suffocating darkness she hid in circled around the room, pressing harshly against Hermione like a predator snapping its jaws around its prey. In the beginning she had been terrified of the possibility that something or someone was lurking in the dark corners, but as time passed she slowly befriended the darkness as it shielded her well from her foes.

The grey walls that loomed around her were made of a cold depressing stone that bit into her back every time she shifted.

She shivered violently as a cold draft swept through the room, huddled in the corner in an attempt to conserve body heat. Her breaths were slow and measured, turning into a cloud of icy air each time they escaped her blue-tinted lips- almost as if it was a reminder of the chill infusing into her bones.

Sometimes she really, really wanted to die. Harry was gone, so what other reason did she have to live in this miserable, painful world where she had to spend every waking moment of her horrible life hiding? Where she had to quiet her breath and slow her heartbeat for fear they could hear even that?

She knew she couldn't yet. She needed to survive for just a little longer, so she could help her younger self save Harry.

The magic took a lot of energy, and she already didn't have much to spare.

But today she found some food that had been dropped, so she gained a bit of strength from that. Maybe she'd have enough energy to contact herself again.

Hermione screwed her eyes shut, counting her breaths to slow her thoughts so she could concentrate.

Breathe in. 1, 2, 3,

Breathe out.

Breathe in. 1, 2, 3,

Breathe out.

Hermione reached behind her with her mind, using magic to try to pull her 4th-year self's timeline up to parallel hers.

She inhaled sharply, trying her best to smother the scream that tried to rip out of her lungs as she grabbed onto the timeline. Every nerve in her body felt like it had been set aflame, each second morphing into what felt like an eternity.

Hermione jerked her head back into the wall as her limbs trembled in pain, lips curled back and teeth clenched as she willed every fiber in her body not to make a sound. Her muscles clenched in agony and she bit her lip until the sharp iron taste of her own blood seeped onto her tongue.

Now that she bent her timeline so that the past aligned with the present, she tried to focus on anything she could to ignore how much it bloody hurt.

The pain that had originally cut like a white-hot knife through her body slowly blended into the background, Hermione's pool of thoughts successfully raising higher than the ache.

Now she had to wait for her 4th-year self to fall asleep. She knew that her younger self was always tired, staying up late work on her studies, so it made the process a bit quicker.

1...

2...

3...

4...

A human-sized shadow loomed over her body, pain shooting through her stiff neck as Hermione slowly turned her head to face her other self. "You didn't tell anyone, right?" She asked with an exasperated sigh, looking up at past-Hermione with glazed eyes.

"Uh...No."

"Good. Found the book?"

The girl paused for a moment, a confused expression twisting her brows together. "Yes, I did. D-did you place it somewhere for me to find?"

"Research horcruxes. Next step in saving Harry." She whispered hoarsely, praying that this conversation wouldn't reveal her location. No one could hear her other-self, but her own voice still echoed throughout the chilled room.

"Wait, so did you-"

"Remember magical number. Don't forget horcruxes."

"Hold on, who are you? And what on earth are you talking about?"

Future-Hermione sighed again. She was exhausted, and it was getting harder to numb the pain. It quite literally felt like she was ripping her brain out of her skull, and she didn't have enough strength to hold up the line anymore.

"I'm you."

And she let go of the timeline, relief flooding over her body as the line straightened again.

Hermione jolted awake, confused and somehow absolutely exhausted.

What just happened?

"Ah, you are awake. Sleep comfortably?" Harry inquired from her side, feet propped up on the desk and fingers laced behind his head. He gazed over at her, jovial expression melting quickly into one of concern as he saw the frantic expression in Hermione's eyes. "Are you okay? Did you have another vision?"

She looked up at him, head spinning as she tried to make sense of her dream.

"Hey," He took his feet off the table, grabbing her hands. "It's okay, Hermione. Whatever you saw, we'll figure it out. We're in this together, remember?" He stood, pulling Hermione up with him and gathering her in his arms. She stayed silent for a little while, eyes closed as she relaxed into Harry's hug.

I truly don't know what I would do without him. He's always here for me, and always supportive...

I don't know how I would be able to cope if he died.

Actually, I don't think I would be able to cope.

"I saw the woman again." Hermione finally spoke, eyelids fluttering open as she stared at the hardwood floor. "She told me to research horcruxes, and to 'remember the magical number'."

"That explains the book we found. But what does she mean by 'the magical number', and why are horcruxes so important?"

"I have absolutely no idea. But what's bothering me most is that she looked miserable. She's just skin and bones, Harry. Skin and bones." She pulled her head back from his chest to look up at him, a sullen expression clouding her brown eyes. "There was no life in her skin- as if she lost the fire that willed her to live. And I think the fire was you." She blinked back a few tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. "You died, so I died too."

"What do you mean, 'I died too'? I thought you were talking about the woman."

"I am." She sighed, shutting her eyes again. She was terrified that she was going to lose Harry, terrified she could possibly become like her future self; that she could one day be dead on the inside. "The woman is me, in the future."

He paused for a moment, eyes widening as he mulled over the new information. "Are...are you scared that your life might become similar to hers?"

"Yes," she replied softly, voice breaking minimally as she spoke. "I think she was hiding from the death eaters. Remember what I saw from her perspective? When they were-" a tear escaped from her glossy eyes. "They were murdering the muggle-borns?"

"Yes." His voice lowered to match the volume of hers as he cupped her cheek, causing her to look back up at him as he wiped her tear from her face with his thumb.

"I think future-me escaped. And she's hiding from the Death Eaters. But I don't wan't that, Harry. I don't want to hide for the rest of my life. What if I fail, and I end up like her? What if I lose you?"

"You won't. You'll have your future self to guide you so you don't make the same mistakes. And," Harry smiled gently, his eyes flitting between hers. "You have me now. That's all that matters, right?"

A sad smile spread across her face, the warmth of Harry's hand against her face grounding her thoughts.

He's still here. I still have the chance to save him.

"Thank you, Harry."

"You're welcome." He gazed down at her through his dark eyelashes, his shining emerald eyes piercing into hers as he ran his thumb across her cheekbone.

Gosh, those eyes. How could someone look this attractive and not be an angel?

Harry leaned down towards her, his breath warm against her skin, causing Hermiones heart to practically jump out of her chest. He paused, their faces less than an inch apart as he nervously searched her eyes for any hesitation. Relief washed over his body as she slowly tilted her head up in a sort of assent, and Harry gently pressed his lips against hers.

Her arms instinctively wound around his neck, fingers tangling in his soft black hair as his hand slid from her cheek to the back of her head. His opposite hand rested against the small of her back, pushing her closer to himself and deepening the kiss.

Their heartbeats synced, and every nerve in Hermione's body felt electrified as she leaned into the kiss.

For a moment, everything else faded away. The uncertainty, the shadows of what might come- all vanished and was replaced by the electric feel and warmth of Harry's lips on hers.

A/N: I tried my best- im not quite used to writing anything romantic so i hope it wasnt too awkward