Unexpected Freedoms

Harry sat on the roof of the divination tower, looking over the grounds of the only place he had ever truly felt at home. He wondered where the time had gone and chuckled a little at the clichedness of that little thought. He knew where the time had gone, it had disappeared to studying, quidditch, and Hogsmaed visits. It had been whiled away in the common room talking and sneaking through the castle after hours and fighting for his life and the lives of others. And finally, it had been spent thinking about her near the end.

The three of them had changed over the years. Ron had found his own and had moved away from Harry and Hermione. They were still the trio, but he wasn't as quick to jealousy or anger any more. Then again, maybe the fact that he had found himself a partner in Luna Lovegood'd had something to do with it.

His thoguths drifted to Hermione and he smiled. He'd miss her the most when they went their seperate ways, and he knew they'd break apart after school. The pull of muggle and wizarding universities was too strong for her to resists and Harry knew it. She was going to go off and study and become something great and fantastic and make a difference in the world, probably forgetting all about the tall red head and messy haired kid she had hung out with in school.

And what about him? He had no idea. He was free to do as he pleased now. Voldemort was gone, he was no longer dependant on the Dursley's for protection, and he could shoot the moon if he wanted to. This was a strange thought for Harry; not having a decision already made for him. His entire life had been planned and laid out for him since before he was born and suddenly, he was free.

"Mischief managed," he heard behind him and he turned to see Hermione lurking in the shadows, getting ready to crawl out to sit with him. He watched her tentatively step out and he held out a hand that she took gratefully as she came out. "I've been looking for you."

"You found me," he said with a smile as he turned back to look at the grounds again.

"You're missing the party." He shrugged. There'd be more parties. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Thinking," he replied. "As of tomorrow, I am a legal wizard. I don't have to go back to the Dursley's, the world isn't counting on me to save it and I have absolutely no responsibilities to speak of," he finished as he turned to look at her. "And that scares the hell out of me," he admitted. She chuckled a little and shuffled closer to him, looping an arm through his.

"Where are you staying?" she asked him.

"The Burrow, for a bit, until I find a place of my own," he said. "You're welcome to visit any time.

"You and Ron getting a flat together?" He shook his head.

"Ron and Luna are though."

"Really," she said as she considered that possibility.

"What about you?"

"Home with my parents. They'll probably drag me off on some vacation somewhere. I think I need to take some time to get used to the muggle world again before I do anything else."

"University?"

"I don't know yet," she said. "Some how, the thought of studying in a place that won't offer me the adventures like here did, doesn't appeal to me at the moment."

"And that is why you weren't sorted into Ravenclaw. You're too much of a trouble maker," he said with a laugh. She shook her head.

"You and Ron were just bad influences on me," she told him.

"You'll always be welcome to stay in my flat," he told her. "You're welcome to move in, in fact." She looked at him for a moment. "Well, don't you think you'd find it hard to live by yourself after 7 years in a dormitory with 4 other people?"

"At first, but I think I'd get used to being on my own." He looked at her for a long moment. "Oh alright, the silence would drive me mad." He chuckled and they fell into silence as they watched the stars come out.

***

Hermione sat quietly next to Harry, her arm still looped through his. She let her headrest on his arm as they watched the stars come out and she knew that she'd be moving into his flat with him. The silence of being all by herself would drive her mad. Besides, she had never been away from them for very long during the year. Or during the summer for that mater. She pulled her cloak a little tighter around her as the temperature began to drop a little and he pulled his arm from her, wrapping it around her shoulders to pull her closer.

"Why have you never had a girlfriend?" she asked out of the blue. She felt him tense and watched his head turn quickly towards her.

"What?!" he asked, not sure where this had come from. She shrugged a little.

"I bet you could have had anyone you wanted, and yet you never went out with anyone. I was just wondering why." He thought about it for a moment.

"I didn't want any of them. I don't think they really wanted me either. Well, maybe a few did, but I think most just wanted the name." She nodded and stayed quiet. "What about you? Turn about and all that."

"No time," she replied. "I had to keep you alive and study . . . ." he chuckled. "Besides, I think you and Ron scared them away."

"We did not."

"You two are pretty protective. Well, you're not as bad as Ron is. Poor Ginny . . ." Hermione said with a shake of her head and a smile.

"Sorry," he told her. "I'll do better from now on." She chuckled and thanked him. "The one thing you wish you could have done?" She sighed and thought about things for a moment.

"Learned to like flying," she replied after a long moment. He laughed, remembering how his ears had rung after they had ridden on Buckbeak in third year. "You?" He thought about this for a long time, the list was pretty long.

"Gotten laid," he said with a smile and she smacked him. They both laughed. "Okay, seriously?"

"Yes," she said as they turned to look at each other. Her smile faded as they locked eyes and stared at each other for a long moment. He brought a hand up to play with the ends of her hair for a moment before he leaned down and kissed her softly.

"That," he whispered when they finally pulled apart. She just blinked at him for a long moment.

"Why?" she asked.

"You took too long to find me. I had time to think about things," he said with a shrug. "And I decided things had changed for me." She stayed quiet as she considered this.

"So it's my fault?" she asked with a smile.

"Completely. If you had been a little faster . . . ." She laughed.

"I'll do better next time," she said. The smiles fell off their faces when they realized there would be no other time for her to scour the castle and use the Marauders map to find him. "So," she said after a moment. "That's all you wanted to do?"

"Well, maybe go on a date of two, see what happens?" he asked quietly. She nodded slowly after a moment.

"Yeah, I like the sound of that," she told him.

"Okay," he said as he got up and offered her a hand to climb back into the castle. She accepted it and smiled to herself. Her moth had always told her that as one major event comes to an end, another is always waiting to begin. Seems like she was right.

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