Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I don't own the story line but the mix of my favorite movies is my own idea. Some of the lines I borrowed from the movie so they really don't belong to me either. Also, the song "Somewhere Out There" belongs to Our Lady Peace and whoever wrote that awesome song.
A/N: I'm so glad you all are liking this so far. Thanks for all the support! I think you'll like this chapter even better.
A Year to Remember
Chapter 5
A soft rain fell across the Hogwarts grounds. It was the morning after the show, and most students were saying their good-byes to friends who were leaving for the holidays. Harry and the gang were staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, planning to reek havoc. Harry was walking quickly through Hogsmede, hoping that he hadn't missed the train. Hermione was going home for Christmas, and he had to talk to her before she left.
"Hermione!" Harry shouted as he noticed a brown head bobbing through the crowd of anxious students.
Hermione stopped and turned around. She watched Harry emotionlessly as she waited for him to catch up to her.
"People can see," she said plainly as he stopped in front of her. She wasn't wearing make up anymore and her hair was riding down her back, soaked from the rain.
"And that would ruin my rep how?" Harry pointed out, brushing his wet, ebony hair out of his face.
"What do you want Harry?" Hermione asked coldly. Apparently she was upset, and Harry couldn't figure out if it was because of the incident a couple months ago or because of last night.
"I, uh, I," Harry reached into his pocket and took out a small object, "I wanted to give you your Christmas present."
He handed Hermione a small box wrapped in blue paper and a small pink ribbon. Hermione looked a bit startled.
"Thank you," she whispered graciously, handling the box uncomfortably. "I, I didn't get you anything."
Harry smiled kindly at her.
"You didn't have to. I just, I wanted to say that I'm sorry and that I really miss spending time with you."
"Why?"
"Well," Harry begun, somewhat stumped by the question, "maybe, you inspire me. Maybe, maybe I miss you."
"Sounds like bull," Hermione said, not giving the answer Harry expected. In fact, he sort of hoped that maybe she would fall into his arms and kiss him gently like they had kissed before. Harry didn't understand why he was feeling this way. It was alien to him, something he had never felt before. And up until Hermione's comment, he thought she was feeling the same way.
"Which part?" He asked, suddenly annoyed at her.
"All of it," she said crossly.
"Well it's not," he replied.
"Prove it."
With that she stalked away. Harry stood there a moment in a daze, trying to contemplate what he should do. Some people were watching, but now he didn't care. He began walking after her. He caught up to her and she glared at him.
"You don't know the first thing about being someone's friend," she scolded him.
"Maybe I don't want to be your friend," Harry answered, walking in a quick pace beside her.
"You don't know what you want," Hermione said, stopping abruptly and glaring up at him.
"And neither do you," Harry said, looking straight into her thoughtful brown eyes. "Maybe you're just scared that someone might actually want to be with you."
"And why would that scare me?" Hermione asked, stepping back a little.
"Because then you wouldn't be able to hide behind your telescope, or your little hiding place, or your faith. No, you know the real reason why you're scared? It's because you want to be with me too."
Hermione's mouth quivered, and she stared up at Harry, not sure what to say. Harry stared back at her, a bit surprised at what he had said. People around them were beginning to whisper. For the first time that morning, Harry realized that he was sopping wet from the rainfall. It didn't matter anymore. He had just admitted that he liked her. He only wondered what Hermione would say in return.
"Thank you for the gift," she whispered, and disappeared in the crowd. Harry watched her leave, surprised at her comment. He expected her to hit him, scream at him, do anything. But Hermione wasn't like that. And that's why he found himself attracted to her so much.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The holiday had gone by very slow. Harry wasted his days in the common room or in the library, not able to get Hermione
out of his mind. At times his friends had said that he seemed distracted, but they didn't think much of it. Ron,
Draco, Seamus, and Dean tried to pull a prank on Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Instead, the four of them landed
in detention for a week, and Dean and Draco were suspended from their quidditch teams.
One morning, Harry lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying desperately to get Hermione out of his mind. Ron had come in a bit earlier and was listening to his enchanted headphones. The music was blaring so loud that Harry could hear it perfectly from where he was.
"Turn it down Ron!" Harry shouted, throwing a pillow at him.
Ron turned around and rolled his eyes.
"Fine," he muttered under his breath, turning down the music. He walked over to Harry's part of the dresser and took out Harry's latest CD. "Let's get Club Ronnie and Club Harry jumping shall we?" He put the CD in the enchanted stereo and turned it up. Out of the speakers a voice began to sing.
"Last time I talked to you, You were lonely and out of place. You were looking down on me, Lost out in space. We laid underneath the stars, strung out and feeling brave. I watched the red orange glow. I watched you float away. Down here in the atmosphere, garbage and city lights, you've gone to save your tired soul, you've gone to save our lives. . ."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ron blurted as he stopped the music. "What the hell was that?"
"It's a muggle rock band," Harry said, "Hermione lent it to me a while back."
"What, she's got you listening to her people's music now?" Ron asked rudely.
"Her people?" Harry questioned, rising off the bed and beginning to feel uneasy.
"You know," Ron went on, "Her bible huggin', crucifix wearing, honk-if-you- love-Jesus kind of people." ((A/N: I used this line from the film because it was a request, just so ya know. . .))
"Where'd you come up with that one?" Harry asked stubbornly, not amused in the least.
Ron shrugged.
"Saw it in some film a few years ago."
Harry said nothing. He just stared at his feet, a million thoughts running through his brain.
"God Mate," Ron muttered, sitting back on his bed, "this girl's changed you and you don't even know it."
Harry remained silent. He knew Ron was right, but right now, he couldn't admit to it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harry paced the common room the morning that the students were coming back from their vacations. He wasn't sure if he should meet Hermione at the train station or wait for her where he was. Lavender strolled carelessly down the staircase and stopped in front of Harry.
"I got the pictures from the play developed," she said coolly, "want to take a look?"
"No," Harry muttered, not really paying much attention to her.
"Fine," Lavender said stiffly, turning on her heel. She left the room in silence, leaving Harry with his thoughts.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hermione walked through the Entrance Hall slowly, glad to be back at school, but a tad bit gloomy to be away from home.
"Hermione!" a voice called from behind her.
Hermione turned to see Lavender Brown walk up towards her.
"Hi," Hermione said uneasily.
"Hey," Lavender answered, "Listen, I just want you to know, Harry and I are completely over. So, no hard feelings?"
"I really don't know what you're talking about," Hermione muttered, wishing she wasn't there.
"Hey, come have lunch with me," Lavender smiled, taking her hand.
Hermione agreed, not sure what was going on. When she stepped into the Great Hall, she suddenly felt like she was being watched.
"Oh, my, goodness," Lavender muttered when the reached the Grffyindor table. She had picked up a flyer and was staring at it. She then looked up at Hermione and gave a sly smile. "Nice arse."
Hermione stared at her, wide eyed, as Lavender handed her the paper. It was a picture of herself from the play, except, it wasn't her. Everything below her neck was fairly prerogative, practically naked even. Hermione dropped the flyer and began to breath heavily, feeling everyone's eyes on her. She could hear laughter and cruel whispers. Her heart was raising and tears dwelled in her eyes as she turned to run. But something stopped her. She looked up and found that she had run right into Harry. She began to shake and Harry held her face in his hands.
"This is not about you," he whispered gently, "this is about me. Let me take care of this."
He slowly let go of her and walked across the room. He snatched up a flyer and walked up to the gang.
"What's this?" he asked furiously, tearing the paper in half.
Draco stood up and began to laugh heartily.
"Pretty good ain't it?" he asked, smirking. "Mate, why didn't you tell us what was hiding under all of that?" he pointed at Hermione and more laughter rang through the hall.
"You leave her out of this," Harry stated, pushing Draco away.
Draco stumbled back and then ran at Harry in anger. Harry moved to the side and he missed. Next thing Harry knew, he was fighting with his best friend. Harry socked him, making him stumble back again. Seamus tried to get in the middle to stop them, but Draco pushed him aside. The two boys stared at each other with absolute loathing.
"We're through," Draco shouted, "You hear that? We're through!"
"Fine with me," Harry answered, turning around to leave. The gang was staring at him in disbelief. He didn't care anymore. He walked back to a shaking Hermione and put his arms around her. "Let's get out of here," he muttered. She nodded. He put his arm around her shoulder and slowly led her out of the hall and back to the Gryffindor common room without a second thought.
"I'm so sorry," Harry whispered as he sat her down on one of the common room armchairs. Hermione smiled slightly, still uneasy about what had happened.
"Thank you," she said quietly, looking up into Harry's bright, emerald eyes. A few tears began to fall down her cheeks. Harry smiled and wiped them gently away.
"Did you, open my present?" Harry asked her calmly.
Hermione nodded and touched her neck. She reached under her shirt and brought out a golden locket with a lion engraved on it.
"It's beautiful, thank you," she said sweetly, smiling as well.
"You're beautiful," Harry muttered, taking her hands in his.
She smiled nervously and broke eye contact.
"Hermione," Harry said after a few moments of silence, "would you go out with me tomorrow night?"
Hermione looked up, startled.
"I, I don't know what to say," she stammered, pulling her hands away from Harry's.
"Yes might be nice," Harry smiled, hope in his eyes.
Hermione looked into his eyes, a bit hesitant. Finally she sighed and nodded.
"I would love to."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harry held Hermione's hand as they walked down the busy streets of Hogsmede, enjoying each other's company. Harry suggested that they eat at a tiny restaurant he found a year ago and Hermione agreed. It wasn't really a restaurant at all. It was a small little place at the end of the street. It had about five tables and a small dance floor, and all of it was under the stars.
"Would you like to dance?" Hermione asked him after they had finished their dinner.
"Uh," Harry muttered, not expecting that, "I, I can't dance."
"Oh, come on," Hermione replied, "everybody can dance. Please, for me?"
"Fine," Harry gave in, standing and taking her hand, "for you."
Hermione smiled as Harry led her to the dance floor. A sweet ballad was playing as they began to dance.
"Ow," Hermione whispered, "that was my foot."
"Sorry," Harry muttered, "I told you I was bad at this."
"But to be fair, you did warn me, right?"
"Right," Harry agreed, smiling at Hermione's glowing face. She smiled back at him, her hair flowing behind her in the light breeze. Harry couldn't get enough of looking at this piece of perfection in front of him. He wanted to hold her, kiss her, be with her forever.
Later that night, the two teenagers strolled calmly around the lake on the Hogwarts grounds. Harry had been pondering his feelings all night, not fully understanding what the mysterious emotions building inside him were. Hermione let go of his hand and walked to the water's edge, staring off into space. She crossed her arms and let out a small sigh, slightly shivering. Harry walked up to her and placed his jacket around her shoulders. She accepted silently and smiled to herself.
"How can you see things like this and have moments like this and not believe that somewhere in this crazy world, there is a God?"
Harry was quite taken aback my Hermione's question. He stood behind her, watching her movements, not sure how to react.
"You're lucky to have such faith," Harry answered, looking down at his feet uncomfortably.
"I can't see it," Hermione replied, turning to face him, "but I know it's there. I mean like, your parents for example. You may not be able to see them, but you can feel them, beside you, with every breath you take."
"I see what you mean," Harry whispered, seeing much more than he expected. He watched Hermione turn back towards the water and breathe in the fresh scent. Harry stepped towards her and slowly took her hand. She turned and smiled kindly at him.
"I might kiss you," Harry whispered, taking another step closer.
Hermione's face suddenly turned pale and her eyes grew wide.
"I might be bad at it," she mumbled in return.
"That's not, possible," Harry answered her, taking her face softly in his hands. He brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear and leaned in. Hermione slowly did the same, a look of fright and excitement mixed on her face. They closed their eyes and in an instant their lips met. It wasn't the first time they had kissed, but it was the first time that either of the two felt something so powerful within them. Harry began to kiss her passionately, not wanting this dream to end.
After getting a longer taste of her soft, sweet lips, Harry slowly backed away, wanting to see what Hermione's reaction was. She stared at him, her mouth partly open, in shock over what had just happened. She slowly curled her lips into a tiny smile as Harry stroked her cheeks.
"Hermione," Harry began, preparing himself for what he was about to proclaim. "I love you."
Hermione's mouth formed the shape of a small "o" again and stepped away. She couldn't speak. Harry searched her eyes for anything at all but for the first time they seemed hazy.
"Now would be the time to say something," Harry mumbled after a few moments of Hermione's silence.
"You promised not to fall in love with me."
Harry stared at Hermione, not understanding what she meant. And suddenly, it clicked. He had promised. But that was before. . .
"I couldn't help it," Harry whispered, taking her face in his hands again. Hermione closed her eyes and Harry kissed her forehead. "You are the best thing that has ever happened in my life," he went on, looking deep into her eyes, "I don't ever want to be without you. I just can't be without you." He kissed her nose and wrapped her in a warm hug. She held on to him tightly, a few unnoticed tears slipping down her face. The two stayed like that for a while.