Chapter 13 - Forever Friendship
Harry woke up very early the next morning. He didn't know if it was because he was well rested or because he couldn't sleep. He lazily got out of his bed and looked out the window; it was still dark outside and it was snowing very gently. As he rubbed his eyes awake, he thought about yesterday: deciding to give Hermione the gift he was supposed to give her on her birthday, seeing her outside alone with Xavier, getting into an argument with her, and having Serine reveal the truth to him. As happy as he was with Serine's revelation, he made an extra attempt to avoid Hermione. After his little dilemma with her, he didn't see her since. And to make sure he didn't make contact with her, he decided to sleep in his old bed in the boys' dormitories.
He walked lazily down the steps and in to the Gryffindor common room and froze halfway down when he saw a figure. It was Hermione. He was sitting to one side of the sofa, fast asleep with her head on the headrest. There was a book in her lap which told Harry that she had fallen asleep reading (not to his surprise). Harry scoffed when he saw her, shook his head in disgust and marched on, passing her on the couch and making his way to the magical wall. After saying the password to Wally ("Prime Example") he made his way in and went straight for his room.
"Some friend I am huh?" gritted Harry through his teeth. "We'll see about that!"
He frantically searched through his trunk at the foot of his bed and pulled out a wad of pictures. He took a moment to run through them to make sure he had the absolute best ones. Most of them were of Hermione in various poses and places. Some were formal while others looked like she was playing around and having a good time. All of them a reminder of his and her once beautiful relationship.
"Some beautiful relationship… But this should be fun," said Harry, lining up the pictures once again an walking up to a lit candle on his desk. "Bet Hermione's burn all my stuff. Only fair I do the same." He tried to pry it from the holder to no avail. He put a little more force into it and finally the candle popped right out of its holder. During the struggle, two pictures fell from the stack he was holding. Harry grunted, not bothering to even look at the pictures before placing them on top of the stack.
He held the pictures in his left hand and the candle in his right. He took a deep breath before bringing the two together slowly. He held the tip of the flame right under the pictures and suddenly, he saw it; he had noticed the pictures he had dropped and was staring at one of them as though it hypnotized him. He placed the candle on the side and examined the picture.
It was obviously one of those "mistake" pictures. It was of Harry and Hermione standing by the lake and Hermione was leaning forcefully into Harry with a playful yet mischievous look on her face. Harry, looking slightly impatient yet playful himself, was gently trying to push her off and shot her a "what-are-you-thinking?" look. The real Harry couldn't help but laugh through his nose as he remembered that day clearly; it was taken before they had become a couple.
He removed the picture and looked at the second one he had dropped. It was the exact same picture as before: same setting, same time, same people, but this was what the picture was supposed to look like. Harry had his arm around Hermione and the both of them were smiling and holding themselves formally. Although neither of them were giving a "teeth-showing" smile, they looked rather cute and you could notice the picture of them were slightly blushing as Harry brought Hermione closer to him. He went back and forth from the pictures for a while until his heart and soul jumped and turned, as though for a stunning revelation.
This is what he and Hermione were like, before the two of them went out. They were fun loving people, not love sick ones. Harry nodded, confirming that having Hermione for one his best friends, was well worth the pain and suffering he went through when they had broken up and a great gift from above. He wouldn't give up Hermione's friendship for anything! He sighed and walked back through the magical wall.
"Stay open for a while Wally."
He walked and stood right in front of Hermione (she was still sleeping). He looked down at her and sighed again.
"How could I ever be mad at her?" he said, as if he was talking to someone in the room. He leaned down and put a bit of hair that was in her face behind her ear.
"You know that sitting position is a very uncomfortable looking one to sleep in," Harry said out-loud to himself. "What to do?"
He stood and thought for a moment before an idea popped into his head.
"Oh I can't do that!" Harry answered himself. "I can't carry her to her room. She might wake up while I'm carrying her and take it the wrong way and probably become even more mad at me than she already is."
He thought about another idea.
"Well it's worth a shot," Harry shrugged. "It's better than my last idea." He slowly approached Hermione and snaked his right hand through her hair and on the side of her neck, supporting it. With the other hand, he gently pushed Hermione down onto the couch so that she could lie down.
"Don't get up, don't get up…" Harry whispered as he lowered her down. He also put her legs up on the couch and adjusted her skirt as well, to make it cover her decently. And with luck, Hermione didn't get up. She did, however, curl herself up in her sleep to the new comfortable position Harry had put her. She lay on her side and her hands were under her head in a prayer position, using it like a pillow.
"There, that's better," Harry said, as though he has just won a war. "But your hands aren't going to cut it for a pillow." He ran upstairs to the boys' dormitories and came down with an extra blanket and a pillow. He gently raised Hermione's head and placed the pillow under her before gently placing her head back down. He unfolded and spread the blanket on Hermione, covering her from the neck down and tucking her in nicely.
"There!" said Harry with a smile. "That's much better. Sleep well Hermione." He left her and made his way back into the private dorms. He reached into his trunk at the foot of his bed and took out his journal. He walked back into the small common room and he wrote in it furiously, telling about what he had just learned and did, also putting in his feelings here and there. He wrote for what seemed like forever. It was surprising his hand didn't fall off from writing so much but it just kept going, as though it had a mind of its own and didn't want to stop writing. After securely locking the book and placing it on the small coffee table in front of him, he stretched and yawned and suddenly wanted to check on Hermione.
He walked through the magical wall and saw her, still fast asleep on the couch.
"Well it's still early," Harry said. "Maybe I'll go and hang around outside for awhile."