WHMH: When Harry Met Hermione (revised)

A/N: I destroyed the first version in its entirety. Some of the characters will resurface but the tone and hopefully the true character of our heroes will come out more clearly and precisely. If you've read the first version, I apologize for no notice that a new version was coming. I am desperately looking for a beta to help me with this story. It could be unbelievably funny and romantic, but two heads would be better than one.

Prologue: A Very Brief Look Back at the Beginning

I remember the day I met Harry and Hermione in January 2005. They looked like the two of them and been made out of the same mold and had never been separated. To hear them tell the story of how they finally found love, it seems to be a miracle. Since Harry and Hermione's love story highly unconventional, it seemed fitting to write it the same way. This was the interview from our first meeting and it sets the stage for everything that follows.

Interviewer: You two look wonderful this morning. Is there anything new that we should be aware of before beginning the interviews for you story? Hermione? Harry?

Harry: Well, I suppose that both of us are really nervous and flattered that you chose to tell our story in an interesting way.

Hermione: Yes, I would say that is a good point. I'm sure everyone out there thinks that the love story between themselves and their significant other is romantic and noteworthy. It is both terrifying and cool to have someone think that your love story is cut above the others. I'm not sure how much I want to tell even now.

(Hermione smiles at Harry and takes his hand.)

Interviewer: Well, let me start with you Harry. What was your first impression of Hermione the first time you met?

Harry: As I recall, I was with my friend Ron when we met the first time. She seemed to know me already. If I remember correctly, it was Hogwarts: A History or something where my childhood confrontation with Lord Voldemort was first made famous. I remember thinking how boring a girl like her must be if that's the kind of reading she did for fun. Ron was absolutely mortified by her attitude and air of superiority. (Pause) But other than the bossiness, she was just another of my classmates at the very early stages. Ron was the one who really took exception to her at first. Of course, it was because he was sweet on her.

Interviewer: Hermione?

Hermione: I was in awe to meet a legend from my history books at first. And, then I realized he was absolutely no one special and actually felt a little cheated that the real Harry Potter was not heroic at all. He wore glasses and didn't really have a clue about he magical world. Overall, had I not become friends with them because of their bravery in the confrontation with the troll, I'm not sure that we wouldn't have been merely acquaintances for our time at Hogwarts or I might have died that night.

Harry: Oh, so I wasn't all that special, huh?

(In a mortally wounded sort of voice with a smile and clutching his heart.)

Hermione: No, I mean, for a girl of eleven to find a boy her same age as a hero, there has to be more than just an article written in some old dusty book for the allure to last very long. I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but most of us, the girls I mean, found you to be quite exciting as a Quidditch player. I suppose if so many other things hadn't come about to postpone matches, postpone the season, or suspend you from the team, you might have had quite a little following. I'm sorry sweetheart; you were really kind of a nerd.

Harry: Gee, so you graciously didn't throw me to the wolves like other girls did to the nerds. I'm not sure I like this interview thing.

(Again he feigned to be mortally wounded.)

Hermione: Okay, nerd is the wrong word. You were such a good friend and I knew you so well that I regarded you as just one of the guys. Admittedly, you became the guy that I eventually put life and limb in jeopardy for. It took years for me to realize why, Harry. Life around you was not extraordinarily normal if you know what I mean. Things happened that brought emotions you couldn't speak. The same thing happened to Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville.

(Hermione paused and took a drink of water.)

Hermione: I suppose I am dominating this conversation too much. But that last bit is something that I don't think Harry would ever say, even now. If he loved me while we were in school the circumstances had stolen any means he would have had to express it.

Interviewer: That didn't stop him from finding a way to express himself to Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, and one of your best friends Ginny Weasley. How do you explain that he had romantic interludes if not relationships with those three girls if he couldn't express love?

(Hermione reddened at the mention of Cho's name and looked at Harry with a burning stare when Luna and Ginny were mentioned.)

Hermione: Harry is very complicated. Those relationships were not built on his ability to be romantic. They were built on his need for compassion and kindness. Cho was in denial of all the horrible dreams she probably had about the death of Cedric. Being with Harry probably helped her deal with that. Luna was and still is a totally empathetic person.

She was worse than Harry at loving from within for her own reasons. She loved someone in the way they needed love rather than fulfill her own desires. Right, Harry?

(Harry nods.)

Hermione: Ginny loved Harry. I must have listened to every story about Harry that Ginny had a million times. He cared for her, but it was because of the attention she gave him. He needed someone to keep him sane during a very crazy time. If I had not been so involved with Ron, I might have better understood Harry and seen him as more than a friend much earlier. But Ron and I had such a history. I had to resolve Ron and I before I could see anyone else as a possibility. I suppose, now when I look back at it honestly, I loved both of them too much to be in love with either of them. Somehow we passed right by the weak knees, butterflies in the stomach, and can't think about anyone else stage. And maybe that's what went wrong between Ron and I too.

Interviewer: The changes in your life as you grew up under the threat of Lord Voldemort must have made your love life kind of secondary, didn't it? Could you explain what it was like to have great friends in Ron and Hermione while they were dating and you were dating his sister? Did you get jealous of them?

Harry: No, not at all; I was too busy trying to manage my meager love life and learn how to avoid dying at the hand of Voldemort. The reality of being with them day in and day out made being jealous seem stupid. Hermione was by far the most attractive girl and kindest person in my life except for Ginny. Even at those times, so I was happy to be in the greatest situation in the world for someone my age who faced death everyday. My best friend's sister was my girlfriend, his girlfriend was my confidant and friend, and he defended me in every way possible. Some people wanted to make that sound twisted, but it wasn't. There were no sexual innuendos between Hermione and I. We were friends. Once Lord Voldemort was gone though things changed for me. I had a sense of peace and happiness that gave me a new lease on life. I saw Hermione differently then, but she had changed.

Interviewer: She changed? How so?

Hermione: I did not, you silly prat! You changed. You just said it. You came out of your silly cocoon.

(Hermione took a playful swipe at Harry.)

Harry: Oh, I get it. You went from easy to talk to about anything to short and “why don't you ask your girlfriend. I have my own life to live.” You knew we were having trouble. All of a sudden we had to make appointments to see the all-seeing and all-knowing Hermione Granger. When you and Ron finally decided that his choice to join the Quidditch professional ranks was going to make a relationship together impossible, you began to push me away too.

(Hermione was silent and looked off toward the clock at the other end of the room.)

Interviewer: Wasn't it at that point that you two cancelled your plans to share an upstairs and downstairs flat while attending your post-Hogwarts professional training?

(Harry smiled at Hermione who was still pretending not to listen to us.)

Harry: Yes, I suppose it was.

There you have it: The first interview with Harry and Hermione who once became legends in Hogwarts lore but are now becoming legends again for their love and devotion to one another. Read on as Harry and Hermione tell the story in their own words.