A hug to remember
by SilverFoot

Rating: G
Ship: Harry & Hermione
Canon: Books 1 - 6
Genre: Humor, Romance
Status: Paused
Length: 3,465 words in 3 chapters
Published: 26 Dec 2007
Last updated: 29 Dec 2007

Hermione reveals her feelings but Harry is closing in on himself, she had to do something, something that would surprise
him to make him understand that this was real...

From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/7842/

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1. Chapter 1

A little idea developed into this story, it's been several years since i've written anything about the potterverse but
this one had to be told . Haven't even read HBP and DH for that matter, hp stopped being interesting with the release of
HBP for me, but never lost interest in the fanfiction part of HP, especially H/Hr.

No profit, no responsibility, just pure fun. Non-betaed so please forgive errors. Hope you enjoy this. Review if you
wish, I'm just pleased you found this story and read it .

A hug to remember

She had to make him understand, to make him see that she meant what she had just said, that she really did have very
strong feelings for him.

Seeing his eyes loose the sparkle she always noticed when he was in a good mood or looking at her was almost as
gutwrenching as imagining him being dead at the hands of Voldemort, and lord knows that she had imagined that so many
times and always felt the same hollow feeling of despair and loss.

“Harry please!, don't you see?, I AM serious, i…oh god please don't leave me now, not when I show you my soul!”,
Hermione was at her last breath and thoughts on what to do to so Harry would see that she was serious, as serious as she
had ever been with anything, to open his eyes and see the girl in front of him, telling him that she thought he was the
one for her.

She should have known that living without love and care from the darn Dursleys would have made him crippled in that
particular department of feelings and she was really having a hard time getting her point across.

Hermione had never been lacking ideas when she stumbled upon a problem that needed a clever and intelligent solution,
she would say or write whatever needed to be said or written down and then move on to the next problem that needed to be
solved. This problem was different because it involved her feelings for her best friend and hopefully his feelings for
her also.

But since the subject of her immediate problem was about to walk away from her, her mind told her the most ridiculous
thing to do and the intelligent part of her had only negative thoughts about the idea, but her heart took over, and
commanded her body into actions.

Looking back she could only imagine what thoughts ran through Harry's mind when he was tackled from behind with
Hermione's body in a reverse hug, she took a good hold on him and dug her fingers into the front of his robes to get a
good grip if he indeed would try to struggle free.

Harry almost fell over and had to steady himself and Hermione by catching hold of the door out of the Gryffindor common
room.

Everywhere in the room people stopped writing essays, stopped reading, stopped talking about everyday events, stopped
breathing and sat perfectly still, all eyes on the latest development with Harry and Hermione.

Ron was about to make his rook take out Dean's queen in the latest game of wizard chess but he never made it. Lavender
was reading her copy of the Daily Prophet but never finished the article and Ginny was in the middle of a chat with
Neville when she saw his eyes become very large by the actions at the door, she herself sucked in a large breath of air
and almost didn't exhale from sheer shock.

Those were the reactions of the people in the room of the forever named hug event.

“Hermione what are yo..”, Harry said, but never finished the words because Hermione took a even greater hold on him by
locking her legs around his hip, the surprise of that action and the apparent strength of her body was enough to render
him speechless.

“I want you to understand that I like you Harry!”, Hermione almost screamed into his back, “I hate it when you try to
walk away if someone is trying to make you feel loved!”, she was shaking violently now and the silence in the room told
her that she had the undivided attention of everyone present, she couldn't care less at the moment since all her focus
was on the boy she had completely engulfed in her hug.

“If the only way I can get through that big skull of yours, is to hold you tight until you understand, then better
prepare to have me coming everywhere you go, when you go to eat, I will be there holding you, when you go to bed, I will
be laying beside you holding you!”, that last part of what she mumbled into his back made her blush violently into his
robes and she could only imagine that Harry himself was pretty red all over his head, but it was worth it if she could
convince him.

Harry tried to turn around to get a good look at Hermione, but instead he found himself facing all of his friends, well
almost since his best friend was locked tight onto his back. In the span of three seconds before he turned around once
more he managed to get a good look at the faces of the different people present and the look of pure anger and jealousy
on both Ginny and Ron's faces made his stomach turn. Oh boy did he notice that look.

“Hermione please get off me!”, he said with rising voice. “NO!”, Hermione responded and squashed Harry even more. He was
becoming quite agitated with the situation and wanted nothing more than to escape this place and the audience and solve
this thing fast one way or the other, so he finally pushed the door open and struggled to get out since Hermione never
once let go of him.

Once out of the common room Harry turned left and began walking as good as was possible with Hermione on his back,
intent on finding a private place.

“The requirement room”, he mumbled to himself, and noticed that Hermione was nodding into his back to agree with him, he
sighed greatly and stumbled on to the hidden door, Hermione in tow.

TBC…

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2. Chapter 2

Back again, thanks for your reviews people, they warmed me. Still non-betaed so please forgive any errors.

A hug to remember.

He should have guessed it.

Yes of course they would not be able to go the distance to the room of requirement without anybody seeing them, if he is
not “the boy who lived” anymore, he sure is “the boy with Hermione on his back who ran into Peeves”…

Apparently even poltergeists can look surprised, Harry thought, while still trying valiantly to walk decently with
`her!' on his back.

“Hermione?” he asked after stopping by a statue of Merlin to catch his breath. “Mphhyah?” she mumbled with her head
still dug deep into his robes.

“Will you let go of me when we get to the room of requirement?”, he asked and felt the small nod again against his back,
“ok then, well we better get going fast or perhaps run into Peeves again”, he resolutely straightened himself and walked
the last corridors to the place.

Why on earth do you have to walk by that blasted door three times to get it to reveal itself!?, Harry thought, and on
top of that he had to do it with a girl on his back, albeit not a heavy girl at all, Hermione was so small compared to
him and Ron, but what she lacked in height and width, she made up for in intelligence and fierce loyalty. But having her
jump onto your back and off is one thing, walking to the room of requirement from the Gryffindor common room is a whole
other thing. Harry was not build heavy or anything, and the years at the darn Dursley's did nothing good for his
physical appearance, he was infact skinny and non muscular although playing Quidditch had surely helped a little.

He was getting very tired now and the last steps into the room were not in a straight line anymore. He slumped head
first against a column right inside the entrance.

“Hermione, please jump off me now…I a little tired now”, he told her, but this time he felt her shaking her head. “Why
not?!?!?, please Hermione this is absolutely ridiculous!” he was almost shouting now from irritation and exhaustion.

“I'm am sooo embarrassed from this and I cannot have you look at me at the moment!”, Hermione squeaked out in a tiny
voice, Harry could almost feel her radiating waves of blushing against his back and he actually understood her
predicament, especially since he was the one who saw how the whole Gryffindor common room reacted to her actions.

“Hermione, it's okay, you can let go of me and we will talk, please?” he tried to untangle her hands in front of his
robes but she just shrieked into his back and took a harder hold on him.

Godric Gryffindor must have possessed him looking back, because his actions after trying to pull Hermione's hands off
his robes were something quite un-Harry like. But it worked.

“Ok, Hermione, just remember that it was you who put yourself in this position, and that I am only trying to make you
see sense again?”, he could feel her head lift a little and almost saw her golden brown eyes light up in confusion in
his head.

He bent his head down.

And the next thing Hermione felt was Harry tongue licking a large part of her right hand, all the way up to her knuckles
that had turned white from holding on to him. Hermione's eyes widened with shock and she squealed loudly while letting
go, letting go of all of him!

*FHWUMP*

Hermione hit the floor with her backside and gave a little heartfelt yelp. “Ouch! Harry!, I hurt my bum!” she complained
while trying to get up from that embarrassing position on the floor.

Harry was delighted that the weight of her was finally gone and he almost got goose bumps on his back from the coldness
of the loss of her body, he was smirking at her in a gentle way while giving her a hand to help her get upright again.

Hermione was meticulously cleaning her backside with her hands and setting her clothes right again all the while she was
staring a hole into the floor, she dared not to look at him, she was so ashamed of herself and her actions spoke volumes
of her state of mind.

“Aaah this is so much better”, Harry said while stretching grandly and looking back at her, “how's your bum?” he
casually asked her.

Hermione's eyes went directly to his and almost at the same time down again while a new blush adorned her head; “fine!”
she tartly replied and stopped cleaning her robes. Since her hands did not have a job to do anymore they began fretting
at her sides. She took a large breath of air and slowly looked up at him again.

Hermione was having a hard time breathing regular since the piercing gaze of Harry did nothing soothing for her mind,
and body for that matter.

Harry saw how she reacted to him scrutinizing her features, and loving what he saw, the small mole at the base of her
throat, the well defined eyebrows, her small but sweet earlobes, her lips and how they could make the day worth living
when smiling at him, her small frame that belied the fierce, sweet, caring, loving and needed to be loved soul that was
Hermione. She smelled of cinnamon, books and ink, that was Hermione and he would recognize that combined smell in a room
filled with other people.

Who was he kidding, he had already fallen head of heels for this woman, this female that would walk through fire for
him, and come out on the other side clean and nagging him about his schoolwork. Harry smiled at the thought.

Hermione on the other hand was at a complete loss as to what kind of look was on Harry's face at the moment of his
thoughts, she had never really seen that look before, oh sure, she had memorized all of his looks, that's why she knew
she had to react so fast before he managed to escape in the common room, but this one, this look was new. If she had to
categorize and catalogue it, and of course she had to, she would say that he looked like a man that had found the source
of life, a man that had asked the question, why are we here? And then gotten a positive answer. He looked like a man in
love.

That last thought brought Hermione's senses to a halt, everything began to move slowly and she felt like someone had
dropped a big bucket of hot water all over her, and then a cold one right after that. She had never been so sensitive to
details in Harry face than she was at that precise moment, his scar, his green eyes and the wrinkles at the sides when
he smiled, his sweet nose that was smaller than normal but still sweet, and his great big mop of unruly black hair, and
dimples!, he had dimples, she was amazed at discovering them, they were so small but still there, and the thin lips of
his that were at the moment smiling shyly at her.

They were in fact moving right now, but she didn't really hear any sound come out, or did she?

“Hermione?” he was saying, “are you ok? you don't have any pain anymore do you?” he was concerned now since she didn't
react at all to his questions.

“Ok is bum sore” she said, and then silence. Harry widened his eyes at this, he had never in his life heard Hermione say
anything like that, completely butchering her grammar with that one sentence. He could not help himself, he began to
laugh, first in small chuckles but soon he was bending over and hooting with laughter, all the while Hermione was
smiling weakly at him and blushing over her little mistake, well to most people the mistake was small, but this is
Hermione we are talking about, and she just knew that she would never hear the end of it.

Harry finally stopped laughing and looked at her again, and yes, that darn sweet look was back, but also mixed with a
look of uncertainty.

“Did you mean what you said? you know, in the common room, before all this?” he asked her.

TBC.

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3. Chapter 3

Back again folks. Thanks to those of you who have reviewed, they are warming me greatly .

A hug to remember.

That does it!!, Hermione thought, she would forever dedicate at least one hour a day to develop a spell that would make
blushing a thing of the past. At this precise moment when Harry asked that question she could feel her face were on fire
and not only did the shyness effect her face but also the rest of her body, never had she fidgeted so much with all of
her limbs at the same time that she almost felt like a monkey with its fingers in an electric socket.

When she told him of her feelings, the time, settings and mood had been carefully planned so she would have total
control of the situation. Hermione laughed inside her head from that thought, control….oh my…yes the little miss know it
all and intelligent witch certainly had everything under control, that is why she was now standing in the room of
requirement in front of the very person she was supposed to have a civil conversation with in the common room, but
destiny and her instinct had chopped that plan into small blocks and then avada kedavra'ed them to ash.

She sighed and looked at him. “Yes, I really did mean what I said back there Harry”, “you really didn't expect me to
confess to such a thing without me having researched it and thought it over and over in my head?” she asked while
stepping closer to Harry.

He smiled while looking down at his shuffling feet. “It's amazing how easy we feel shy around each other when the
subject lands on feelings, don't you think `Mione?”, he mumbled to her.

She took a small step back from surprise, “'Mione??...” she squeaked. She thought about it for a second and didn't
really mind so long as it was him that called her that, if Ron would ever attempt such travesty she would hex him into
the next year and back again, but Harry….that was another thing, more private for only the two of them, and she actually
liked it when thinking more about it.

“Is that what you call me now?” she asked him in a low and almost sensual voice, while she looked at him from under her
eyelashes.

“Erhm…well if you don't mind?, I'd never call you that in front of other people, only when it's me and you” he said in a
soothing voice since he was afraid that her actions were just a trap so she could give him a good scolding, he knew that
she would do just about anything to get his attention away from her earlier actions.

“I like it” she said with a brilliant smile, and then frowned. “But as you said, it's only for you and me”. Harry nodded
and gave her a hesitant smile.

Hermione really loved when he smiled, just that simple gesture was enough to make her feel ready to battle Voldemort
over and over again, and it just lifted her spirit to new heights. She couldn't recall what the feeling was since she
really never had been in love with anyone, yes there was her unfortunate crush on Gilderoy Lockheart in her second year
but that was only a crush, this was lo….wait a second?, Hermione stiffened and her intelligent brain took over and began
to digest her feelings for this particular boy. Her earlier conclusion about having strong feelings for him was not
adequate to describe what she really felt at this moment.

“So this is love?” she said out loud.

*FHWUMP*

This time it was Harry that sat down on the floor since his legs had decided to give up, although he gave no indication
to any pain since all his focus was on what Hermione had just said. “LOVE?!” he said with a high pitched voice and
harrumphed a couple of times to get his voice back in control.

He stood up and brushed himself off all the while Hermione noticed that he suddenly had a panicked look in his eyes, she
began to think that perhaps she had pegged his own feelings wrong and that actually scared her, she didn't know what to
expect so she just stood there, waiting, waiting for the focus of her whole being to say something, to throw her a bone
so to speak. And Harry spoke…

“Hermione…” he coughed, “erh...I….I don't” Harry mumbled while his eyes looked down. Hermione's breath caught in her
throat and she felt completely numb all over, no no no Harry please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, Hermione kept
saying over and over in her head, she could almost taste the humiliation in her mouth, the bitter taste of rejection and
disappointment. She looked at him with pleading eyes, trying to plead with him that he must feel something for her!.

Harry gazed at Hermione just a fraction of a second, looked down again and then mumbled “I don't….” he said, and
Hermione could see that he had real trouble with what he was saying, he then gave a big sigh and steeled himself, this
needed to come out, be a man he told himself. “I…. don't know…..what love is……” he said in a small voice, his shoulders
slumped, his hands fidgeting in the front of his robes, his feet shuffling around each other and his head lowered so
much that he gave the impression of a boy who did something wrong.

Silence.

TBC…
