Risks of Love

Standard disclaimer: This story is based on characters created and owned by J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Warner Brothers. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended. This is merely for entertainment purposes.

Rating: G

Risks of Love

Harry Potter had just ushered a very puzzled Hermione into the Room of Requirement. This time the room was much smaller and only had a single piece of furniture in it, a sofa. The room had a few torches lit in it, but the lighting was subdued.

“What’s going on?” asked Hermione.

“I needed to ask you something and I wanted to be sure no one overheard us,” Harry said as he sat down on the couch.

“Is this about my birthday next week?” she said curiously as she sat next to him.

“No,” he said shaking his head quickly. “In fact, I still have to get something for you, no it’s about…umm…”

“Yes?”

Harry swallowed hard. He had rehearsed this a few hundred times during the day, but he still wasn’t sure exactly what to say first or how to bring up the subject.

“Well, umm, you tried helping me with Cho awhile back and umm, I thought maybe, you might be able to umm, offer some more advice…”

“What’s it about?”

“Well, I know a guy that is interested in a girl, but he doesn’t know what to do.”

“Go on,” Hermione encouraged him.

“Well, umm,” Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably, “see this guy is close friends with this girl. He has been for many years now and er – he’s afraid that if she doesn’t like him in that way that he might make her feel uncomfortable and the last thing he’d want to do is to lose her friendship if she rejected him.”

“You want to know how to find out what the girl feels about this guy?” she asked.

“Yeah, how should he go about it?” Harry asked earnestly.

“Oh Harry!” she said throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him fully on the mouth.

Harry had never thought that he would have gotten that reaction from her. As she kissed him, he sat there frozen and did not respond. Hermione’s kissing me, he thought. Hermione is kissing me.

Hermione pulled away from him and had a look of abject terror on her face.

“Y-you thought I was talking about me…and you,” Harry stammered.

Hermione cast her face downward and nodded.

“I was asking for Ron. He likes you.”

Hermione buried her face in her hands.

“You like me?” asked Harry.

Hermione remained silent.

Harry looked around the room and noticed how romantic it looked and thought maybe she just was responding to the surroundings, and maybe she felt sorry for him. Maybe that’s all it was. Maybe she would have reacted the same way if it had been Ron asking her the same questions.

“Did you do that because you like me or because you didn’t want to hurt my feelings?” he asked.

“What difference does it make?” she said looking at the floor, “You wanted me and Ron to get together, so it means that --”

“How long have you felt that way towards me?” Harry asked.

“Why do you want to know?” she said looking at him with a pained looked in her face.

“I can’t believe that I’ve been your friend for so long and I didn’t know how you felt about me.”

“Why? So you can laugh about it?”

“Never,” he said firmly. “I’d never laugh about you.”

“I’ve loved you forever it seems,” she said softly with tears falling down her cheeks. “I knew that you didn’t feel the same way about me…so I’ve kept my feelings close to my vest. I didn’t want to make you to feel uncomfortable and risk losing you as a friend.”

“I see,” said Harry. Inwardly he was reeling with emotion. He had been discussing this talk with Ron for days about how best to find out how Hermione felt about him. Ron had been so worried that Hermione might start acting strange around him and that he’d never be able to talk to her again. Ron had begged Harry to sound Hermione out and find out if he should pursue her. They had never discussed the possibility that Hermione might like Harry instead.

“I should go,” she said as she started to stand.

“Wait!” he said as he grabbed her hands and pulled her back to the couch.

Harry looked at his best friend, a young woman that he had known for years and had shared so many experiences with and he saw her as if for the first time. He looked in her eyes and saw the intensity of her feelings towards him and her vulnerability. He tenderly brushed the tears off her cheeks and held her face in his hands.

“I had told Ron that there wasn’t any witch out there that was as brilliant, loyal, brave and as beautiful as you. That he’d be the luckiest wizard alive if you were his girlfriend. I now realize that I’m the lucky one, instead.”

Hermione looked at him with a hopeful smile as Harry brushed a finger across the lips that only a few moments before had kissed him.

“I was trying to be happy and supportive of Ron, because he’s my best friend, but now I realize that I’d have a hard time dealing with anyone kissing your lips, besides me.”

He closed his eyes as he brought his lips to hers kissing her softly at first, then it quickly changed to one of hunger and need. Harry’s hands were entwined in her thick, soft tresses as his lips pressed harder onto hers. She let out a soft moan as their kissing grew intense and they wound up lying down on the couch with their bodies pressed closely together.

Hermione stared at Harry as his hands started to gravitate towards her curves.

“So, what are you going to tell Ron?” she asked.