::Passion Flower::
"Hermione?" Harry whispered softly as he bent down over her.
Sighing heavily the brown haired girl lifted her head from her thick book and glanced up. "Hey."
"'Mione, I swear, Gillian is just a back up…"
Hermione swiftly held her hand up with a huge smile plastered onto her face. "Harry, I don't need to know. You don't owe me an explanation…you don't 'owe' me anything. I mean we aren't a 'couple' or anything."
Harry gritted his teeth and turned her chair around so that he could kneel between her legs. "I know you don't need an explanation, but I want to give you one. I'm always having girls throw themselves on me…"
Snorting Hermione rolled her eyes. "Aren't we coincided?"
Harry's eyes shifted and he frowned. "Please 'Mione?"
"Alright, fine!"
"Since girls are always doing that I simply have a girl that's a friend as a back up. I have her there to save me when I want it."
Hermione nodded her head forming her lips in a sarcastic yet playful smile. She lifted her legs up and plopped them down on the back of Harry's calves so that her thighs embraced his hips. She bowed her head and rested her forehead against his, draping her arms around his neck. "I didn't know you needed rescuing from me!"
Harry jerked back, his frown deepening. "Did you listen to anything I said?"
"Harry, lighten up."
"You're telling me to lighten up miss book worm…homework queen."
Hermione smiled and placed her hands on the side of each of his cheeks, mashing them together. "Oh you're so cute," she said in a baby voice.
"Why are you acting like this?" Harry spoke, distress evident in his voice.
Hermione sighed and fell back against her chair. "I'm trying to ease your feelings and this gloomy mood that has settled in over us. Harry, you don't owe me an explanation…"
"No, yes-I-I mean I do owe you an explanation, because a friend wouldn't do what I was about to do to you, wouldn't do what I had already did. I-I wanted to do more. So much more," he sighed out passionately as he caressed her cheek. "I missed you so much 'Mione! I didn't know how much until I saw you."
Hermione's eyes widened. "Wow, that's some confession Mister Potter," she whispered, her voice hoarse with emotion. "I'm sorry though, I'm not into one night stands Harry. I know, being you, what it must be like…"
A look that sent a shiver down Hermione's spine crossed over Harry's face. It was a look of pity.
Harry Potter pitied her!
"You-you most of all shouldn't have judged me the way you did."
"I speak the truth," Hermione said softly.
Anger flashed in Harry's forest green eyes. "You don't know the truth. You weren't around to know it!"
Hermione reared into a standing position and pushed Harry in the chest. "No, you know what…just no! Do not through that into my face! Don't you dare," she growled the warning.
"It's the truth," Harry said shrugging as if he hadn't a care in the world. "You disappeared. No good-bye, no letter telling us where you were, nothing. Do you know how much time and money I put into a search party for you? I would have gone straight to the Ministry…actually I did, but the possibility that you'd gone of your own free will stopped them. When we found out, after eight months of searching, that you were living as a muggle with someone named May or something we decided to leave you alone. Figured you needed to work out some things, but you didn't do a damn thing! Nothing 'Mione, nothing, so I figure friendship and truth isn't everything."
Tears welled in her eyes as she searched Harry's face. He was hurt; it was obvious, just in his voice alone. Deep down Hermione had known that she'd hurt Ron and Harry both terribly when she'd left without word, she knew it was wrong, but she was upset and all her dreams had been dashed away when she'd walked in on Harry and that girl.
Hermione took a deep, shuddering breath and raised a hand to Harry's cheek. "Harry I-I'm so sorry for what I did and you're right, I don't know the truth because I wasn't here. I'm so, so very sorry," she cried, allowing the tears to flow freely.
Harry covered her hand with his and pulled it down so that it rested against his thigh. "Why'd you leave?"
Hermione gave a weak, unconvincing smile. "I can't tell you that."
"You can't tell me?" Harry asked an eyebrow rose in question. "Ten years later after finally asking the question he always wanted to know about the girl-his girl-she says she can't tell him. Well, what do you say to that?" he snorted in anger and through her hand away.
"Don't do that, don't start acting like a jack ass. 'Oh, poor me, I'm Harry Potter and I have the weight of the world on my shoulders'…that act won't work on me anymore."
Harry's mouth had dropped open his eyes widened and he shook his head. "I-I can't believe you just that to me. After everything I went through…" he gritted his teeth on every word, "for YOU, FOR RON, FOR PEOPLE I BLOODY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW!"
Hermione swallowed a gasp. She hadn't meant to say it, but she'd been so angry. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice taking a defeated tone.
Harry sighed and swept his fingers through his hair. "Why did you come back? You should have stayed with your lawyer friends and company."
"A-it's called a Firm and you know perfectly well why I came."
Harry snorted. "Because of the diary? You could have just sent it in the mail."
"You're completely missing the point," Hermione snapped out.
"Well excuse me all to hell for being a guy!" Harry growled.
Hermione paused and lifted up her eyes, giving Harry a startled look. "Well-I-I…" she managed to get out before bursting out into laughter. "I can't believe you said that!"
Harry had the dignity to look sheepish. He then quickly shook his head. "Look, 'Mione I'm sorry for being cross with you, but you have to understand. I like you."
"I like you to Harry."
He growled in frustration. "Not like that. Like, in the way that I want to be able to kiss you and date you and take you out and show you…"
Hermione swallowed with nervousness and bit her bottom lip. She clutched her hands together and gave a timid smile. "You need to stop saying 'and' so much."
She was a sophisticated woman with a successful career as a Lawyer. Not even hardened criminals could make her break out into a sweat, but her she was, on the edge of having a nervous break down and sweating with fear over what her best friend…the one she'd fallen in love with quite some time ago…would say.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Would you stop correcting everything I do? I like it when you do it, just please not right now. I need you to hear what I have to say!"
Hermione slowly nodded her head, encouraging him to continue.
"I love you as a best friend, I want to make that straight. You must know I'd never do anything to jeopardize our friendship, but just of late I've been having not so friendly feelings towards you. I've been having sexual feelings towards you," Harry mumbled the last part his face flushing with embarrassment.
"And, how long have you been having these feelings?" Hermione asked sounding very much at the moment like a psychiatrist.
"I've them before, back when we were in school, but I never acted on them obviously. I just thought it was because I was a randy teenager. Since you've come back though it's really all I've been thinking about. I'm not telling you this so that I can act on them, I'm just telling you this because I don't just want to be your friend. I want to do the courting, the dating…all of it, but I need your permission first."
Hermione held back a smile and sighed. "You have it."
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Hermione couldn't believe her luck. Not hours ago had she had her once best friend practically get on his knees and ask her permission to court and date her. She'd been thrilled and when he'd offered to carry the books she'd checked out for the library she could have sworn she felt her knees tremble.
Two hours later she started up the stairs to get ready for bed and opened her bedroom door to see a box of chocolates and a single red rose lying diagonally on her pillow. She'd been floored with the thought that he had really meant to court her.
It was so old fashioned that she had to giggle as she sat down next to the box of chocolates and lifted the piece of paper that had been beneath the red and black box. She flipped it open and read.
My dearest Hermione,
I have a question for you 'Mione…how did I take for granted what was right in front of my face? I should have known that at any moment something could have happened and it did. You left me. I'm sorry I didn't take the time to act on what I truly felt for you during and after Hogwarts, but I'll make up for it. I promise. I know what you saw…was it the reason you left? Seeing Cho and I-I'm so sorry. I don't have an excuse for that. It just went with the moment. The wrenching sad feeling in my gut had taken over my ability to think straight. I wish everyday that that incident hadn't happened. If it hadn't happened you never would have seen it and I would have gotten to keep you for a little while longer until the twenty first of July, the day I was going to declare my love for you. I had it all planned, down to the very last detail on how I would tell you. You would have been very proud. I know what your thinking…"Love? Yeah right." I'm sure however that there are more big words in that thought. At this moment in time I love you as a friend. I like you as a-girlfriend, I suppose.
In the time you've been gone my passion of loving you faded I'm sad to say, but that was because I thought I'd never get to see you again, never get to look at your beautiful face. I know with just a few more days my love will be full again. So I'm asking you Hermione to let it live. What do you say to making me fall in love with you all over again? If you're up for it I'd like to take you, along with Ron and a few other friends, to a get together. Of course it will not be a date, which would defeat the purpose of the beginning process of courting you. However the courting won't be long. Just as a fair warning. 'Mione I have an awful lot of need for you stored up…I hope you don't mind too much.
Yours,
Harry
It took all Hermione had in her being to not squeal with girlish delight. She was so excited she was afraid she'd burst. Never had she thought Harry had had feelings for her then or even know.
Hermione frowned slightly as she remembered Harry had failed to mention the date of the get together, but she quickly grinned again knowing that she'd just have to go to his bedroom and ask him. When she asked him, she'd be sure to thank him for his thoughtfulness.
Harry had absolutely no idea how up for it she was to help his love bloom again and no idea just how much need she had stored up for him.
To Be Continued…